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DALITS/SCHEDULED CASTES - 2013 - Indian Social Institute

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<strong>DALITS</strong>/<strong>SCHEDULED</strong> <strong>CASTES</strong> - <strong>2013</strong>January to December - <strong>2013</strong>Compiled ByFr. Paul G Documentation Centre ∗Dalit alleges gangrape, no action taken so far (2)AJMER: A 38-year-old dalit woman of Dholadata village of Masuda block was allegedly gangraped by thepeople of another community here on December 25, 2012. However, her complaint has not beenregistered so far despite the fact that the woman was also admitted to a hospital after the incident. Thevictim alleged that prior to the gangrape incident too, she had been raped repeatedly by one Ajeet of thesame village after she lost her husband in November 2010. In August last year she also wrote to the chiefminister for justice. The woman on Tuesday came to Ajmer with some of her relatives and alleged thatshe had approached every police official but there was no help. Finally she registered her complaint withthe Dalit Rights Centre. The woman who has five small children to look after cultivates a piece of land inthe village. According to her on December 25 she got to know that Ajeet, Sayar, Mehfaaj, Samma, Anil,Dariyav, Mishri and some others had encroached upon her piece of land. "When I went to them to ask formy land, they first made fun of me and then raped me. They were all laughing at me," said the victim inher affidavit. She further stated that when her younger sister came to her help she was beaten up badlyby the group. "My younger sister went to the village and asked the Bhambhi community (to which thevictim belongs) to help me. Ramdev, Narayan, Puhkraj, Mahendra and a few others rushed to the spotwhere the accused beat them too with sticks," said the victim. The victim who had injury marks as wellshowed the letters written by her to chief minister, district collector and superintendent of police of Ajmerand alleged that no investigation was initiated in this matter. She also alleged that when members of hercommunity took her to police station to register a complaint the police did not file a report. (Times of India2/1/13)Dalit woman raped in HP (2)SHIMLA: A panchayat member from Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh has been arrested for allegedlyraping a married dalit woman. The accused, Anant Ram, allegedly barged into the 37-year-old victim'shouse on Monday when she was alone and raped her. He threatened her of dire consequences if she toldanyone about the incident. A complaint was filed on Tuesday morning after the medical examinationconfirmed rape and Ram arrested. (Times of India 3/1/13)37 Dalit families facing social boycott in Hiriyur (2)Bangalore: “Three Dalit officers, a Deputy Commissioner, a Superintendent of Police and a Tahsildar, inChitradurga district have defied the directions given by <strong>Social</strong> Welfare Minister A. Narayanaswamy toprotect 37 Dalit (Madiga) families facing boycott from Lingayats and Vokkaligas in Majure village of Hiriyurtaluk for nearly two months”, alleged Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (Prof. B. Krishnappa) president T.D. Rajagiribefore presspersons in the chambers of Mr. Narayanaswamy at the Vidhana Soudha here onWednesday. Mr. Rajagiri said that he had gone to the Inspection Bungalow at Chitradurga when DSSleaders narrated their woes and requested him to help remove the boycott, but in vain. The families hadcome all the way from their village and were waiting for the Minister to receive their memorandum, but hedid not turn up, he said. Mr. Rajagiri said that the Minister, who also belongs to the Madiga community,∗ This is a collection of previously published news and views from the print as well as the electronic media, whose referencemarked at the end of each news items. Department of Documentation and Library (DDL) of the <strong>Indian</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Institute</strong>, NewDelhi neither claims to the veracity of the facts in the news nor subscribes to the views expressed.


telephoned the Deputy Commissioner asking him to take action. But, there was no relief to the Dalitfamilies who were staging a dharna in front of the Tahsildar’s office in Hiriyur demanding land,compensation and relief under the law. He said that caste Hindus had imposed a boycott on thesefamilies following the appointment of Lakshmamma from the Madiga community as a cook in theanganwadi there. He said that upper caste politicians of the village did not want a Dalit woman to cookfood and feed their children and they succeeded in getting her resignation from the post. The Dalits, hesaid, had approached a landlord who was ready to sell the land to the government for distribution amongDalits. However, caste Hindus had opposed the acquisition of the land by offering more money to thelandlord, Mr. Rajagiri alleged. Citing an attack on Dalits in the village in 1998 following which casteHindus were arrested, Mr. Rajagiri said that Majure village Dalits did not want to lodge any complaintagainst them as they wanted harmony in the village. They approached Murugha Sharanaru andAdijambava Math Swamiji for a dialogue with the caste Hindus in the presence of the officers, but thecaste Hindus did not relent. The Dalit officers in the district were either scared of upper caste politicians orhad lost all sensitivity, he added. Bharatiya Janata Party MLC and former DSS leader D.S. Veeraiahalleged that the shops in the village refused to sell provisions and other essential commodities to Dalitsand landlords denied them work. Mr. Veeraiah, also a member of the high power committee onprevention of atrocities on Dalits, demanded immediate relief to the Dalits, including land, punishment tothose who had imposed the boycott and the officers who had defied the Minister. He said that the Dalitfamilies would meet Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar and present a memorandum seeking justice. (TheHindu 3/1/13)Dalit minor raped, force fed pesticide (2)FARIDKOT: A 16-year-old dalit girl was abducted, raped and forced to eat some poisonous pesticide byan upper-caste man and dumped outside her house in a village in Faridkot district on Saturday morning.According to the girl's statement, she was abducted by three men around 11.30pm on Friday night fromoutside her house when she was going to a relative's place nearby. Police have arrested two men,identified as Jagmeet Singh, the prime accused, and one of his accomplices Jagsir Singh. Search is on tonab Chhaina Singh, the third accused. The girl's mother had approached the Jaito police station and fileda missing person's complaint the same night. The girl has said that Jagmeet raped her while the other twostood guard outside the room where she was taken. The girl said that she was threatened and forciblymade to eat something that made her unconscious. She was found lying in front of her house by herparents who immediately rushed her to Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and hospital in Faridkot. Thehospital staff said that she probably had some pesticide. Police have registered a case of rape,abduction, and wrongful confinement against the three accused. (Times of India 6.1.13)Dalits give ‘donation’ to enter temple (2)Mangalore: Come January 11, and for the first time in centuries, Dalits of this remote village on theKarnataka-Kerala border will henceforth be allowed to witness a temple procession pass through, insteadof being evicted. However, it was not social reform, but Rs. 1 lakh spent as “offerings”, as “demanded bythe temple deity” that has stopped the caste-discriminatory practice. Dalits will also be allowed to enterthe temple from now on. No one is certain when or how the practice started in the non-descript villagewhere 38 houses form the Dalit colony at Mullyakajje on the foothills of the Western Ghats. What they doknow is that when the annual Bhandar (procession of donations from a smaller temple to a larger one) ofthe Bajjapila Ullakullu temple passes through, all the Dalits – some 200 of them belonging to the AdiDravida Scheduled Caste – evict the village in silence. “We lock our doors, and leave the village in themorning. We come back next morning. Schoolchildren miss school, we skip our day of work. There is nochoice,” said K.S. Prasad (17), an agricultural labourer. His grandmother, Chennu (60), has been doingthis for as long as she can remember. “Even my grandparents did this without knowing why. There is fearof the wrath of Ullakullu (the temple deity),” she said. Unsure of the specifics, 85-year-old Bhatiya offers


the bit-piece mythology behind the practice: “There is a belief in the temple that some 300 years ago,when Ullakullu was being taken on a procession, inebriated members of our caste obstructed their pathby placing buffalo meat on the road and threw stones at the deity. Angered by this, God cursed us toleave the place during the procession.” When asked if he believed this, he said he did not know, and allthat “mattered” was the temple and the upper-castes — around 200 other-caste households surround thecolony – believed it. It isn’t only during the procession that they face discrimination; until a week ago,Dalits did not have entry into the Bajjapila temple. “We give our harake (vows) and donations throughother castes who can enter the temple. I am yet to see the deity, though I have been offering money,areca, and coconuts for decades,” said Bhatiya. Around six months ago, a few educated Dalits – a rarityin the village – had asked, through other castes, for permission to enter the temple. When this reachedthe ears of G. Shankarnarayan (88), head of the Bajjapila Ullakullu Temple Committee, he offered toperform the ‘tamboola puja’ wherein the deity is asked to offer a solution. “During the puja, the deity toldus that the Dalits had to donate a six-foot high bronze lamp and five kg of ghee made from buffalo milk.The deity would forgive past sins of the community,” he told The Hindu. Incidentally, the temple is atMoodekoolu, the hometown of the former Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda. Since then the Dalits,most of them daily-wage workers, scrambled to collect funds. The puja itself cost Rs. 20,000, pujas atthree other local temples, and the lamp made in Coimbatore took the cost up to around Rs. 1 lakh. “Eachhouse paid Rs. 2,500, after months of saving. We don’t know if it is a bribe or we’re paying for the sins ofthe community. But we’re happy this is over and we can go inside the temple,” said Sundar (38), whosefamily, including his mother Ammani (68), and his one-year-old child Mokshita, hitherto braved the wintercold on the streets of Sullia around 8 km away during the procession. However, the people of the villagesaid there continues to be forms of that cannot be rectified by pujas. The Adi Dravida still have no entryinto the house of upper castes; are considered untouchables by the upper-castes who do not touch themeven while giving wages for working in their fields; they do not have access to water in their wells whilefood is served outside the house only on plantain leaves. (The Hindu 7/1/13)Assault on Dalit youth creates flutter (2)ERODE: Tension prevailed at a village in Ammapet block of Erode district on Monday night after a groupof caste Hindus allegedly beat up a Dalit youth. Police sources said the youth, R. Sathishkumar (20), aresident of Poonatchi village, allegedly teased a caste Hindu girl, an undergraduate student studying in aprivate college. The incident took place when the girl was returning home from the college. On learningabout it, a group of caste Hindus reportedly beat up the Dalit youth. Sathishkumar received seriousinjuries and rushed to the Anthiyur government hospital, where he was given first aid. He was lateradmitted to the government hospital here. More than 100 police personnel and a striking force weredeployed in the village and its surroundings to prevent any untoward incident. Two DeputySuperintendents of Police and five Inspectors were deputed to monitor the situation. “We have registeredcomplaints and asked both the communities to remain calm. The situation is under control,” a seniorpolice official said. Meanwhile, more than 100 cadre of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and relatives ofSathishkumar resorted to a road blockade in front of the government hospital urging police to initiateaction against those who assaulted the Dalit youth. Later, they took out a procession to the Collectoratecomplex, where they met senior revenue officials and submitted a petition. Traffic at the GH junction wasaffected for more than an hour. (The Hindu 9/1/13)Dalits demand action against Minister Rout (2)JAGATSINGHPUR: Hundreds of Dalit people, including women, on Tuesday staged a demonstration infront the district Superintendent of Police (SP) office here demanding action against Health and FamilyWelfare Minister and Paradip MLA Damodar Rout for his “anti-Dalit remarks”. The protest was led by DrBR Ambedkar Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Sangh, a State pro-Dalit organisation. The agitatorsfumed that the district police were shielding the Minister despite popular outburst of resentment and anger


against him for his repeated anti Dalit remarks. The Dalit leaders cited the Kujang case for which Routhad managed to obtain bail form a court. But surprisingly, violating the bail conditions, he again gave antiDalit remarks in a social function held in Paradip on October 24 last year. Though the local police hadregistered a case against Rout but no action had been taken against him till date, rued Manoj Bhoi a Dalitleader, who demanded immediate cancellation of the bail issued to the Minister. Moreover, the Dalitpeople expressed strong resentments saying that oppression cases against them were growing in thedistrict. They cited a case in which a police officer Susanta Satapathy had ill treated a few Dalit women inNaugaon area two months ago. They demanded action against the accused police officer. The dharnawas called off after a group of Dalit leaders met the SP in the evening and the latter assured them that thecases pending against Rout would be investigated and action would be taken as per law. On the violationof bail conditions by the Minister, the SP maintained that he was examining the allegation and if theMinister was found guilty, certainly, the law would take its own course. (Pioneer 9/1/13)Dalit award winner denied passport to visit Netherlands (2)CHENNAI: A dalit activist from Tamil Nadu, who won the Dutch Human Rights Tulip 2012 award, wasdenied passport by the Union government to travel to the Netherlands, apparently due to an objection bythe state police. In his absence, the Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans gave away the award at aceremony in The Hague. The 52-year-old M Bharathan, a native of Tirunelveli district, was recognized byan independent award jury for his "tireless championing of better living and working conditions for hiscountry's Dalits." Bharathan is the director of Human Rights Education and Protection Council, a nongovernmentorganization based in Tirunelveli and has been working for the welfare of Dalits, especiallyagainst caste discrimination and human rights violations for more than three decades. As he could notparticipate in the award ceremony, Bharathan's speech was read out. "My passport was not renewedbecause of a false murder charge," Bharathan told TOI over telephone from Tirunelveli. "By denying mevisa, the <strong>Indian</strong> government has failed to protect human rights and human rights defenders," he said,adding that his case should have been treated as "special" and he should have been issued a passportand visa. The passport office in Madurai, on advice from the Palayamkottai police station, refused torenew his passport on December 18. The police cited a triple murder case pending since 2009, in whichBharathan is accused number 25, as grounds to deny him a passport. Bharathan, who claims to be avictim of caste discrimination when he was young, said he had been campaigning vigorously in severalvillages of Tuticorin and Tirunelveli districts against the "double tumbler" system, restricted temple entry,custodial deaths, and reforms in police system. "The Goondas Act is being misused in the state. Thecountry has several laws to protect human rights, but they are not implemented in letter and spirit," saidBharathan, who waged a long battle for the rehabilitation of Dalits, who suffered human rights violations.Nearly 450 types of caste discriminations take place against Dalits in the two districts, he said. "There arestill practices of discrimination in schools, leading to huge drop-outs." Bharathan claimed he hadorganized several picketing programmes in police stations and district collectorates, and faced nearly 20cases, which was why the enforcement agencies were acting against him. Chinese activist Ni Yulan toocould not attend the ceremony last year, as he is in custody and awaiting trial in a case. (Times of India10/1/13)Rape political tool in India: UN (2)New Delhi: Dalit women constitute the worst victims of sexual violence in India, along with rapescommitted by security forces, a UN-authorised status report has said. A large proportion of such crimesagainst Dalit women take place in Uttar Pradesh, a state which until recently had a Dalit woman as chiefminister, according to figures cited in the “Status Report 2012” by the UN’s working group on humanrights in India. The review noted that two women are raped every hour, and every six hours, a marriedwoman is found beaten to death, burnt or driven to suicide. Although the brutal rape of a woman in Delhisparked a national rage, rural women -- often poor, illiterate and from disadvantaged sections – bear the


worst brunt. Only a fraction these cases are reported, the UN group said. Abduction of Scheduled Castewomen are rampant in Uttar Pradesh, which accounted for 58.8% of the cases in 2011, the yearassessed. Rape is often used as a tool for political and social subjugation of Dalit women, doomed to thelowest rungs of society due to caste-based prejudices. “Sexual violence against Dalit women is asystemic way of enforcing status quo of the Dalits…,” the review said. Rapes by security forces is anotherkey offender, it noted. Despite circumstantial evidence, often “probes are thwarted to facilitate theirexoneration”. (Hindustan Times 11/1/13)Dalit crusader forced to sign bank papers (2)Ramgarh (Bihar): A day after HT wrote about how a Dalit man, who brought literacy to his impoverishedlocality, was facing caste bias at the hands of a bank manager, Banwasi Musahar was Friday allegedlyforced into signing some papers by the bank officials. The 58-year-old brick-kiln worker, who for 20 yearshas been working to educate children of Akorhi Mahadalit basti here, was on Friday whisked away fromthe settlement as he was preparing for his sister’s funeral who died earlier in the day. At around 9am,some men came in a white luxury car and took him to a nearby brick kiln. “I went with them thinking theywanted me to complete some brick-casting work. But four persons from the bank came there and mademe sign some papers,” Banwasi told HT. He was not allowed to read the papers. The bank Banwasitalked about is the Ramgarh branch of the Bank of India, which is yet to honour a cheque of Rs. 1 lakhthat HT presented to him in October for outstanding community service. HT wrote on Friday how the bankmanager allegedly insulted Banwasi's caste and told him off when he went to deposit the cheque, whichwas finally accepted on December 12. When contacted Friday afternoon, branch manager Vinay ShekharDas denied forcing Banwasi into signing papers and said he was trying to settle the issue at the earliest.He said Banwasi's cheque, which was misplaced, had been found and would be credited to his accountwithin three days. “However, we are arranging for Rs. 1 lakh to be credited to his account from someprivate source today itself,” he said. The money had not been credited till the closing of banking hours.Kaimur SP Uma Shankar Sudhanshu said he had asked the local sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) tolook into the matter. When contacted, SDPO Suresh Kumar said he was on way to the basti. "I'll be ableto say something only after I've spoken to Banwasi", he told HT. Kumar couldn't be contacted again.Banwasi' sister died of a gall bladder ailment and suspected heart attack at the local hospital. He didn'thave the money to take her to Patna for better treatment, Buxar MP Jagadanand Singh said. (HindustanTimes 12/1/13)CPI(M) stir to check Dalit exodus from party: Kochu (2)KOCHI: Dalit intellectual and president of the Kerala Dalit Mahasabha K.K. Kochu has criticised theCommunist Party of India (Marxist)’s ongoing agitation for land for the landless which, he says, is aimedat keeping frustrated Dalits in its ranks. “How can the CPI(M) which tried to sniff out the Chengara landagitation by Dalits using extreme physical violence carry out an agitation in the name of landless Dalits,”Mr. Kochu wondered. “And how can a party which when in power refused to allot 3,500 acres of land atAralam give the false hope that it will secure ‘excess land’ for landless Dalits?” Mr. Kochu alleged that theCPI(M) agitation was aimed at checking the exodus of frustrated Dalits from the party. Dalits, he said,made up a large chunk of the CPI(M) but had been let down by the party for a long time. “The landagitation is to save the party, and not Dalits or the landless,” he said. “The party wants to keep the Dalitvote bank in tact and to return to power as it thinks the conflict-ridden Congress and UDF would crumblesoon.” He said the CPI(M), through the agitation, also aimed to win back the support of its middle-classconstituency which had lost confidence in the party in the wake of T.P. Chandrasekharan murder and theM.M. Mani episode. Mr. Kochu said the CPI(M) had wound up its land reform efforts way back in 1970,which it had launched in 1957. The agrarian reforms of the Communist government in the 1950s and 60shad not benefited Dalits as they had only been farm labourers and not owners or lessees of the land theytilled. The reforms benefited only the small farmers and peasants who had rented or leased land from


landowners under various agreements such as paattam, vaaram, and kaanam. Those with the castestatus of Ezhavas and above as well as Christians were the main beneficiaries of the agrarian reforms.Dalits missed out because the CPI(M) had not stuck to the slogan ‘land for the tillers.’ What some of themgot were 10, 5 or 3 cents for putting up houses which were granted by panchayats and municipalities —and not agricultural lands. Around 26,000 of them got tiny houses in the Laksham Veedu coloniesalso.Dalits started launching their own land struggles in the 1990s, without any support from the CPI(M),Mr. Kochu said. The Muthanga and Chengara stirs were the two main Dalit agitations for land. These hadnot been supported by political parties… (The Hindu 15/1/13)9 booked for assaulting dalit family (2)RAJKOT: Nine people, including a village sarpanch, were booked for assaulting a dalit family inKhodapipar village in Padadharitaluka of Rajkot district. According to sources, Paresh Patel, thesarpanch, and eight others allegedly attacked the family members of Mohan Pariya (50), a kiln worker,over some land dispute on Tuesday. Police have booked Patel, Daya Pipaliya, Jago Pipaliya, RajeshPipaliya, Paresh alias Tabo, Gandu Rabari and three other persons under various sections of <strong>Indian</strong>Penal Code (IPC) rioting, sections of Arms Act and sections of Prevention of Atrocities against ScheduleCastes and Schedule Tribes Act. According to Pariya's complaint, Patel and his accomplices barged intohis house and attacked his wife Gangaben (45) and nephew Pravin (39) with lethal weapons. Pariyaalleged that the persons also threatened to kill them. Pariya said that his wife and nephew were rushed tohospital in Rajkot after the attack. Gangaben told police that her family was not given due benefit inallotment of land for housing purpose and her nephew had been angrily representing this issue before thesarpanch. Adequate police bandobast was placed in the village. (Times of India 16/1/13)‘Devadasi system is organised crime against Dalit women’ (2)Bangalore: President of National Alliance of Women Dr Ruth Manorama called Devadasi system ‘anorganised crime against Dalit women’. Speaking at the inaugural function of a two-day nationalconsultation on eradication of Devadasi system on Tuesday, she said, “What happens to Devadasisevery day is not an accidental rape. It is organised crime. Religion, illiteracy, poverty and superstitionshave played a major role in making the Devadasi system an organised crime against Dalit women.“When a girl was gangraped in Delhi, the social consciousness of the middle class woke up and it gaverise to a voice for justice. But sadly, people are totally indifferent about this organised crime which hasbeen happening to Devadasis for a long time,” she said. Quoting the report of National Commission ofWomen, Manorama said, “More than 2. 5 lakh girls who are dedicated to temples in Maharashtra-Karnataka borders are all from Dalit communities.” The report, she said, also says that the girls, dedicatedto temples, are unable to marry and forced to become prostitutes for upper caste members in villages andmany eventually are pushed into urban brothels. Though Devadasi system declared illegal by the Stategovernment in 1982, the practice is still prevalent in 10 districts in North Karnataka. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express17/1/13)Police ‘atrocities’ on Dalits: HC reserves order (2)Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court Thursday reserved its order on suo motu proceeding initiated in thealleged atrocities against Dalits of the Rajkot city by the local police last year. A division bench of ChiefJustice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala had initiated the proceeding while considering aletter from a human rights organisation about the alleged incident that was reported on June 25, 2012.According to the details, Gunvant Rathod, a Dalit leader from Rajkot, was killed by some non-Dalits onJune 24 last year. The next day, after Rathod’s cremation, some Dalits held a rally protesting the murderand demanding arrests of the culprits. According to the complaint letter, the police resorted to lathichargeon the protesters without any provocation. The police also allegedly entered the houses of Dalits atAmbedkarnagar and beat them up. Those beaten up allegedly included children and women. A 16-year-


old girl was allegedly kicked by the police following which she sustained serious spinal injury threateningto cause permanent disability. The incident of atrocities was reported to police but no action was takenagainst the responsible officers, it has been alleged. The injured girl was shifted from Rajkot toAhmedabad Civil Hospital, where authorities registered a medico-legal case and informed the Rajkotpolice. The police, however, allegedly did not register her statement. Following this, Dr Jayanti Mankadiyaand another person wrote to the Chief Justice about the police atrocities and sought his intervention. Theletter was enclosed with photographs and a video CD on the alleged police atrocities. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express18/1/13)Where Dalits have ostracised Dalits (2)Tumkur: As many as 21 Dalit families of Heggare village, near here, allege that they have beenostracised by their own community people for the past one-and-a-half years. They are among the 80families residing in the Dalit Colony. Most of them work as labourers and construction workers, andstruggle to get two square meals a day. The problem started when a meeting was convened by a fewDalit community leaders to choose a person to head the community. R. Narasaiah, a Dalit who retired asvalve man in Tumkur, opined that all people belonging to the community should be invited. However,Basavaraju — a government school teacher and husband of Heggare panchayat memberSoubhagyamma — and his supporters ignored the suggestion and went ahead with the meeting. Thistussle ended in the ostracism of Mr. Narasaiah and his family. They were not allowed to enter theMaramma temple, following which he built a temple for goddess Lakshmi on his land. The families whichare facing ostracism alleged that Mr. Basavaraju and his supporters ordered the rest of the community toboycott Mr. Narasaiah and his family. The announcement, made to the accompaniment of drumbeats,also said violators would be fined Rs. 1,001. Subsequently, 20 families which interacted with Mr.Narasaiah and his family were also boycotted. They were not even allowed to collect water from thepublic tap. These Dalits alleged that the supporters and son of Mr. Basavaraju were picking up a fight withthem over trivial matters, and also hurled abuses at them. The two groups clashed on January 13 nearthe Maramma temple. Rajanna and Mr. Basavaraju were injured and admitted to the government hospitalin Tumkur. Cases have been registered against both groups under IPC sections 143, 147, 323, 324, 504and 506, read with 149 in the Tumkur Rural police station. Gowramma, a resident, told The Hindu, “Mr.Basavaraju’s son and his group have openly threatened us that they will rape our young girls and spoiltheir lives if we go against them”. Jayamma, another resident, said: “Mr. Basavaraju and his group havethreatened us that they would kill us if we do not cast our votes in favour of the persons they suggest.”Mr. Basavaraju, however, refused to comment on the issue. But his family members and supporters,including Nagaraju, alleged that false cases had been booked against them. District convener of the DalitSangharsh Samiti M.D. Doddegowda said that earlier also complaints had been booked against bothgroups. They were called to the police station and a compromise was arrived at, following which thecases were withdrawn. Mr. Doddegowda urged officials to take action against the people who boycottedthe 21 Dalit families. District <strong>Social</strong> Welfare Officer B.S. Pradeep said the matter had not come to hisnotice, adding he would send his officers to the village to find out what was happening. Tahsildar B.Ahobalaiah also said, “It has not come to my notice, I will find out.” (The Hindu 21/1/13)Dalits ostracised for singing bhajan (2)Bhopal: A Dalit family has been ostracised in Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district because one of them daredto sing a bhajan at a religious programme in front of people from upper castes. Tailor Rajesh Uvnare, 40,on Thursday said strongmen from the dominant upper castes asked him to cut short his devotional songand get off the dais at his village, Mathni, last month. “A group belonging to the upper castes then askedvillagers to stop all contact with our family.” The family is not able to buy food in the village any more.“Villagers have stopped talking to us and I have been jobless for more than a month.” Uvnare’s wifeUsha said, “I sent my son for grains from the local mill, but the staff refused to sell him any.” The Madhya


Pradesh Human Rights Commission has taken note of the family’s plight in Betul, and issued notices tothe district collector and superintendent of police. “They have been asked to reply within a week,” said arights official. (Hindustan Times 24/1/13)Dalit youths walk from Mysore to Delhi to create awareness (2)MYSORE: It's a long walk for a cause. Four youths from Ashokpuram and office-bearers of the NalavadiKrishnaraja Wadiyar Association set off on Saturday on a walk to New Delhi. These dalits want to drawthe attention of authorities, politicians and people across the country to the increasing number ofatrocities on their community. As per the schedule, they'll walk over 2,400km in 50 days to reach NewDelhi by mid-March. There, they plan to meet the Prime Minister and President and submit amemorandum to them. They hope to walk at least 50km every day. "Initially, we'll walk about 30-40kmand later step up the pace and cover at least 50km daily which is not impossible for us," they said.They've been practising to walk long distances for the past year. "Our preparations began a year ago andall four of us walked in the morning and evening for long distances," C Chidambara, associationpresident, said. Along with Chidambara, the others walking to Delhi are Muralidasa, M Siddaiah and BPratap. Chidambara added, "We don't want politicians to take unnecessary advantage of the walk andthat's why we kept it a closely guarded secret." They mobilized money for the walk -- each person needsat least Rs 15,000 towards food and other expenses. Chidambara said they're also sure their walk isenough to put an end to atrocities. "Or aim is to create awareness by going to slums and dalit colonies enroute to Delhi," he said, adding that one cannot imagine how many cases of atrocities go unreported. InMysore Rural itself, at least 50 incidents of atrocities go unnoticed every year. "Everybody has failed toprotect dalits" he said. (Times of India 28/1/13)Five years after kin murder, Dalit family attacked again, for pursuing justice (2)MUMBAI: The ghosts of the past continue to haunt the Ghadges, a Dalit family, of Kulakajai village inMaharashtra’s Satara district. They are still threatened and beaten up by caste Hindus. The police haverefused to invoke the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act againstthe accused, claiming that the victims did not ask for it. On January 22, as part of the family tradition,newly wed Vaibhav Diwakar Ghadge, a postgraduate from the Tata <strong>Institute</strong> of <strong>Social</strong> Sciences (TISS),and his wife Shalini (name changed), an M.Com student, went to the Sitamai temple, three km from theirvillage in Man tehsil. Three persons on a motorbike followed them to the temple. One of them wasNavnath Kapse, an accused in the case of murder of Vaibhav’s uncle Madhukar and nephew of the localCongress MLA, Jaykumar Gore. Vaibhav is the complainant and only eyewitness in the case. (On April26, 2007, Madhukar was brutally murdered by 12 caste Hindu villagers for digging a well on his field.Three years ago, the lower court at Satara acquitted all the accused for lack of evidence. In 2010, theBombay High Court admitted the appeal of the Ghadge family and is expected to give its ruling soon.)Navnath and two other unidentified persons attacked the couple at an isolated spot near the temple. Atfirst, Vaibhav was hit with a stone on the head. He fell down unconscious. The one who was holdingShalini demanded that she hand over her jewels and threatened to kill Vaibhav, if she refused. Afterrobbing them, the assailants threw Vaibhav and his wife into a valley, and left them for dead. After sometime, Shalini climbed up the hill and approached the nearby hamlet. She rescued her husband with thehelp of the villagers. Both are being treated at the Yashwant Neurological and Trauma Centre at Sataraand said to be out of danger. The incident occurred in the home district of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavanand in the constituency of the Congress MLA.“We are a joint family. After the murder of my father, ourfamily didn’t bow to [the pressure from] the caste Hindus… We continued tilling our land. Though we areDalits, ours is the most educated family in the village. All my cousins are postgraduates. We consistentlypursued our fight for justice, and this does not seem to have gone down well with these people. Theywant us to withdraw that [murder] case,” said Tushar Ghadge, son of Madhukar and cousin of Vaibhav,who is also a postgraduate from the TISS. Meanwhile, the police have arrested Navnath on robbery


charges. “The accused did not make any casteist remark. How can we book them under the ScheduledCastes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act? The victims did not ask us to chargethem under the Act,” said Shahid Pathan, investigating officer of the Dahiwadi station. But Tushar toldThe Hindu that the police ‘under pressure from the local MLA’ refused to invoke the Act. “They shouldalso have slapped attempt-to-murder charges. The robbery charge will set them free in a few days,” hesaid. Navnath has been remanded in police custody till Tuesday. Despite repeated phone calls to Mr.Gore, he was unavailable for comments. The Ghadge family owns around three acres. Tushar allegedthat the caste Hindu families went all out to torture his family and to prevent their farming activity. “Theydestroyed new machines we brought, began disputing our purchase of new land, threatened us, and once[we] even came to blows.” (The Hindu 29/1/13)Anti-Dalit remarks: Jaipur Police summon Ashis Nandy (2)JAIPUR: Jaipur Police today issued a notice to sociologist Ashis Nandy asking him to appear before it inconnection with his controversial remarks against SC and STs at the Jaipur literature festival. Jaipurliterature festival producer Sanjoy Roy is also likely to be questioned by police today. "We servedsummons to the organizer but he was busy with the event so he could not turn up yesterday but has beencalled today for further investigation," a police officer said. "We will also record the statement of thecomplainant Rajpal Meena," he said. The officer said notice has been issued to Nandy and police wouldrecord his statement. Additional commissioner of police Biju George Joseph had said yesterday that theorganisers were asked to remain in the city as a probe is going on against Nandy for his comments thatpeople belonging to OBCs, SCs and STs were the most corrupt, remarks over which he has expressedregrets. Roy had said yesterday, "I have signed the papers on behalf of the JLF team to comply with theorders." An FIR was lodged against Nandy and Roy last Saturday by Rajpal Meena, Chairperson of theSC/ST Rajasthan Manch, after Nandy stoked a controversy with his comments. However, Nandy gotsome backing from various quarters. Dalit author Kancha Ilaiah, said it was "a bad statement with goodintentions"."Prof Ashis Nandy made a bad statement with good intentions, however, as far as I know hewas never against reservation. The controversy should end here," Ilaiah had said in a statement here.(Times of India 30/1/13)Students skip mid-day meal made by Dalit help (2)Ahmedabad: Schoolchildren of Valiyampura village in Sabarkantha district have been skipping mid-daymeal for the past few weeks, apparently because it is cooked by a Dalit woman who was appointed as ahelper in the school only last month. The woman alleges that students of other castes have refused to eatthe food prepared by her as asked by their parents. According to Bhavna Jasubhai Vankar (42), studentshave stopped eating the mid-day meal ever since she joined on December 26, 2012. "The villagers do notwant me to touch the vessels I clean because of my caste. After I took the charge as a helper, thestudents refused to eat," Vankar said on phone. The primary school has about 176 students. Whencontacted, principal Jayantibhai Patel said the situation had improved but added that angry villagers hadthreatened him after Vankar's appointment and declared they would stop sending their children to theschool. "I sent a report to the senior officials. I also told the villagers that Bhavnaben was just a helper.But they did not listen and their children refused eating," he said. Sabarkantha Collector Shah MeenaHusain said a team of senior officials had visited the school and recorded the statement of Vankar. "Myofficials have told me there is no truth to the allegations. She had been absent from the school for a fewdays. We will take action against the guilty if we find any truth in the allegations," she said. (<strong>Indian</strong>Express 1/2/13)Andhra Govt draws flak over ‘manhandling’ of Dalit MLA (2)Hyderabad: The incident of police unceremoniously dragging away a Dalit MLA of ruling Congress partyfrom his residence on Thursday evening has left Kiran Kumar Reddy Government of Andhra Pradesh red


in the face as several Ministers, MLAs as well as Dalit organisations have taken serious objections to thealleged police highhandedness. Former Minister P Shankar Rao, known for his outbursts against theChief Minister was forcibly taken away by the policemen from Cyberabad commissionerate when he wastaking supper with his family members. Facing charges of land grabbing in Malkajgiri mandal in the city,Shankar Rao is now undergoing treatment for high blood pressure at Care Hospital. As he was beingquestioned by three cops in Niredmet police station, Shankar Rao complained of chest pain. After takinghim to Gandhi hospital, the policemen informed him that he was no more under their custody and left theplace. Worried family members later shifted Shankar Rao to Care hospital where he was under goingtreatment in intensive care unit. “He is suffering from difficulty in breathing and high blood pressure,” Carehospital sources said. Shankar Rao’s daughter, who accompanied him to hospital, alleged that thepolicemen did not allow his ailing father even to change clothes. “When he demanded to see his arrestwarrant, police dragged him in to a vehicle. In the process his lungi got untied and he was not givenrespite even to tie it.” The treatment meted out to former Minister has sparked a major controversy. Manypolitical leaders including deputy Chief Minister Damodar Rajanarasimha, and Ministers K Jana Reddyand Danam Nagendar, Congress MLA Vishnuvardhan Reddy and an independent MLA NagamJanardhan Reddy condemned police behaviour. “What is the need for the police to show so muchenthusiasm in dragging away an elected representative,” asked Danam Nagendar. Dalit organisationMadiga Reservation Porata Samiti leader Manda Krishna has called for three days protest. “JaganmohanReddy is getting kid-glove treatment though he is facing many serious charges. Shankar Rao has beentreated like this because he is a Dalit,” he said. Facing the flak, the Chief Minister ordered a senior IPSofficer Krishna Prasad to probe the entire matter. Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy also helddiscussion with intelligence chief Mahindar Reddy, Cyberabad Police Commissioner Dwarka TirumalaRao and other police officials and sought clarification. State Congress president Botsa Satyanarayanadescribed his arrest as “painful” but said that this shows that Congress does not differ between its ownMLAs and others in such matters. Concerned Assistant Commissioner of Police A Siva Kumar denied thatthe MLA was arrested. “He was only taken for questioning. He was not cooperating with the police inquestioning though we had served many notices on him. On the contrary he misbehaved with the police,”he said. “The questioning is still in complete and we will question him after he gets discharged fromhospital,” he said. (Pioneer 2/2/13)Dalit look for Rs. 4000 cr (2)Chandigarh: Denied Rs. 4,000 crore after promise, the Dalits will turn their grouse into an assemblybyelectionissue against the Akalis in Moga. The Chamar Mahan Sabha has charged the Punjab's rulingalliance with ignoring the problems of the Scheduled Castes and not implementing the welfare schemes."The state government promised during the last state election to allocate Rs. 4,000 crore to theScheduled Castes sub plan for the welfare of the Dalits," said sabha president Paramjit Singh Kainth."However, it is yet to use even a penny out of this scheme for their welfare "The government had used thepromise as a bait to get Dalit votes, said Kainth, adding that it had not activated high-power vigilance andmonitoring committees to look into atrocities against members of the Scheduled Castes. "They have notcalled the meeting even once," said Kainth. The chairman of this team is the chief minister himself, andthe members are legislator of various parties. The sabha has demanded a white paper on the issues ofinactive committees. "The Akalis are biased against the SC community," said Kainth. "This attitude shouldchange, if they want Dalit votes in the Moga byelection. The SC community has more than 35% share inthe state's total voting population." (Hindustan Times 3/2/13)Bihar panchayat imposes social boycott of Dalits (2)Patna: A panchayat in Bihar’s Kishanganj district has imposed social and economic boycott of Dalits as adeterrent to their filing of cases under the Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities)Act. The Dosia panchayat of Charakhpura village called upon the village not to sell provisions to Dalits


and exclude them from other facilities. The problem began after a Muslim woman had a fight with a Dalitgirl over picking up dung from a field. “The woman assaulted the girl. After this, there were rumours thatDalits were planning to file a case under the Atrocities Act. In anticipation, the mukhiya, sarpanch andzilla parishad (ZP) members had a meeting in which they told the Muslim community to socially andeconomically boycott Dalits. They said Dalits were filing cases under the Act,” Superintendent of PoliceManoj Kumar told The Hindu. An FIR under the Act was filed against 15 persons, including village headAnwar Alam and ZP members. No one has been arrested yet. Tension prevailed in the village for sometime on Tuesday. (The Hindu 5/2/13)Three Dalit men murdered in apparent case of honour killing (2)Malegaon (Nashik): The first day of this year took Maharashtra down to a new low. Adding to the growinglist of atrocities against Dalits, three young men were killed, allegedly by a mob of upper caste men tokeep their family’s honour intact. One of those killed was in love with the daughter of an upper castefarmer, who is among those accused. The matter was allegedly suppressed by the authorities for almosta month and the murders came to light only after a hard-fought battle by the brother of one of the victims.A month after the arrest of all five accused and visits to the victims’ families by ministers and the memberof the State Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commission C.L. Thul, the police are yet to file acharge sheet in the case. The accused had been given magisterial custody till February 11. The accusedhad chosen a septic tank on January 1 for their plan. As one of the relatives of the three men from theMehtar (bhangi) community put it, “cleaning septic tank is our bread and butter … We could not have saidno to this work, even in our wildest of dreams.” The Darandales knew this very well. The three worked atthe Trimurti Pavan Pratishthan School and College at Nevasa Phata in Ahmadnagar district. Sachin andhis mother, and Sandip along with his parents, wife and one year old son lived at the staff quarters of thecollege, while Rahul, who didn’t have parents, lived in a small room in the college hostel. All the familieshad the job of keeping college premises clean and Sandip was the head of cleaning operations. PopatDarandale’s daughter Radha (name changed) was studying in the same college. According to KalabaiGharu, Sachin's mother, Radha and Sachin had fallen in love with each other. “He told me once about herwhen he first received threat from her family. He was scared. They both wanted to marry, but could not,”she told The Hindu. Sandip's brother Pankaj Thanvar, an <strong>Indian</strong> Army jawan posted in Jammu andKashmir, is yet to come out of shock. “Their phone was [switched] on till 3.45 p.m. on January 1 whenthey had gone for work at Darandales. Then, we heard the news of his death from police,” he said,playing with Sandip's one year old son. It was Pankaj who in spite of negligence from the authorities keptthe battle for justice alive for over a month. It came to light that Ashok Navgire, a common friend, took allthree victims to the house of the Darandales in the Sonai village. He reported to the police on the sameevening about the death of Sandip, claiming he fell down in the septic tank. “They wanted to create ascene where Sandip was killed by [the] other two and both ran away,” said Pankaj. The police howeverfound the death of the 6-feet-tall Sandip suspicious. They also found bruises on his face. After intensivesearch, Rahul’s and Sachin’s dead bodies were found the next day in the adjacent dry well. However,they could not identify Sachin at first, since the body did not have head, legs and hands. “What was thefault of my son? Loving a girl is not a fault. They killed him with such brutality, I wish they die in hell,” saidSachin's mother. His missing body parts were later recovered from a bore well. The old woman said herlife won’t be the same again . “Old women don't like to see such scenes, scenes like their son beingkilled,” she said. The terrified families have left Ahmadnagar in search of a safer place. Pankaj hasbrought his entire family to Malegaon at his aunt’s house, while Sachin’s mother has shifted to herdaughter’s house in Erandol in the neighbouring Beed district. Deputy Superintendent of Police AmbadasGangurde told The Hindu that police have arrested five people till now. They are searching for others asthey believe the five could not have killed three well-built men. “Popat, Prakash and Ramesh (allDarandale) are brothers. Sandip Kute is their nephew, while Ashok is a friend and an accomplice. Wesuspect that there are more people involved in the crime as killing these three young men was not easy


as all three were well built and strong. We are on search for others,” he said. All five have been chargedunder Section 302 of the <strong>Indian</strong> Penal Code and under sections of the Scheduled Caste and ScheduledTribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Prakash and Ramesh have reportedly accepted their complicity in thecrime in front of the police. Advocate Keval Uke, the general secretary of the National Dalit Movement forJustice, who visited Ahmednagar along with Mr. Thul, told The Hindu that such increasing incidents werea sign of the failure of the constitutional mechanism in the State. “There has to be a comprehensivecompensation package to the families and the case has to be fast tracked, unlike many others in theState,” he said. The victims’ families have demanded death penalty for all the accused and also askedthat Radha’s statement, which they say will prove that it is a case of honour killing, be recorded. Theincreasing number of attacks on Dalits has put the Congress- NCP government in the dock. The leadersof all political parties are allegedly connected to the perpetrators of such attacks and are allegedlyprotecting them. A Congress MLA is a relative of those who attacked Dalits in the Satara district ten daysago. A week ago Hindu right wing organisations beat up a Dalit professor in Dhule district for allegedlyhurting their sentiments. (The Hindu 6/2/13)Expedite trials in cases against Dalits: National Commission tells Maharashtra (2)Mumbai: Pulling up the Maharashtra government for low conviction rate in atrocity cases against Dalits,the National Commission for Scheduled Castes on Tuesday asked the State to expedite trials and probein such cases. “1,200 cases of atrocities against scheduled castes are reported each year inMaharashtra. Out of them, 500 cases are pending. There should be exclusive and fast-track courts underwhich priority should be to atrocity cases,” Commission’s Chairman Dr. P.L. Punia said reporters inMumbai. The Commission today conducted a review of various departments of the State government, onthe works done by them benefiting the people from scheduled castes. “Investigation in atrocities againstDalits should be completed within one month. Trials should also be expedited in these cases,” Mr. Puniasaid. Stating that serious cases of atrocities have come to fore in the State in recent past, he saidMaharashtra’s current conviction rate in atrocity cases is six per cent, while earlier it was three per cent.“In heinous crime cases like rape, murder and arson, the State’s conviction rate is eight per cent,” headded. Speaking on the Sanoi triple murder case, where Dalit youths were hacked to death, Mr. Puniasaid the Commission would closely monitor the case. “If there is thorough investigation we will welcome it.The case should not be kept in cold storage,” he said. Asking Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to holdmeetings of State vigilance committee regularly, he said in the last two years the meeting was notconvened even once. “Meetings are also not taking place of the vigilance committees formed at thedistrict level. Deputy Superintendents of Police of respective districts are not attending the meeting,” headded. (The Hindu 12/2/13)Dalit activist shot dead (2)Dalit rights activist and Bahujan Samaj Party member Chandrakant Jaywant Gaikwad (30) was shot deadby assailants in front of a dhaba in Jamb village of Indapur taluka in Pune district on Tuesday morning. Acase was registered against Satpal Mahadev Rupnavar (22) of Jamb, a "notorious" goon andhistorysheeter, his aide Santosh alias Lubya Chandalkar and three others at the Walchandnagar policestation on the complaint of Dada Shivaji Jadhav (32) of Jamb. Jadhav was with Gaikwad when the latterwas shot. Police suspect the assailants wanted to eliminate Jadhav, with whom Rupnavar had a dispute,but he managed to flee. Inspector Dashrath Patil said Gaikwad, a resident of Jamb, had come toMahalaxmi dhaba to meet Jadhav. Around 10 am, the assailants reached there in a jeep and anargument ensued between Jadhav and Rupnavar. As Jadhav managed to escape, Rupnavar allegedlyfired at Gaikwad from his revolver and fled. The incident has created panic in several parts of Indapur.Nearly 300 policemen have been deployed in Jamb to maintain law and order. Senior police officers,including DySP Manoj Lohiya, visited the crime scene. A hunt is on to nab Rupnavar and his aides.


Meanwhile, Dalit activists held agitation and burnt tyres to protest the murder. Gaikwad was known to bean office-bearer of the Rashtriya Dalit Nyay Hakka Samiti, Indapur Taluka. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 13/2/13)SHRC orders probe in dalit family's house burning (2)AHMEDABAD: Noticing inaction of the police in the issue of a dalit family's house being burned down inBalasinor in Kheda district, the state human rights commission (SHRC) has now directed Kheda SP toinvestigate the incident. The police had failed to make any arrests despite FIRs being lodged with theBalasinor police station. A group of miscreants had burned the house of Jayeshree Rohit, who was adeputy sarpanch of Pandava village, during the state assembly elections. The SHRC also directed theKheda SP to submit an Action Taken Report (ATR) within 30 days and failing in that will initiate the legalprocedure against the police official. A human rights activist Jignesh Mevani, after reading the TOI reportapproached the SHRC regarding the same. One of the accused was in the fray for district panchayatelections. According to Rohit's FIR lodged with the Balasinor police, the incident happened on polling day,on December 17, when Kanu Rohit, along with other families, was going to the polling booth to vote.Some political party workers intercepted them and asked them to refrain from voting. Rohit's wife Jashi,who was the deputy sarpanch of Pandav village, pleaded before the group to leave them alone. But, theworkers burnt their house when Rohit's family refused to comply with the group's instructions to avoidgoing to the polling booth. "After struggling for 11 days, finally on December 29 night, Balasinor policeinspector (PI) hd called me to the police station to register my FIR after I had made an appeal to Khedadeputy superintendent of police Makrand Chauhan. Even after the FIR was lodged there was no action onthe part of the police," says Rohit. According to the complaint, the miscreants looted Rs 85,000 in cashfrom their home. Chauhan told TOI, "I had remarked on Rohit's complaint for Balalsinor PI to register theFIR on Wednesday. I was told by the Balasinor PI on Friday night that there was a compromise betweenRohit and the accused. I will have to check the facts." (Times of India 14/2/13)Dalit woman attempts self-immolation in MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's presence (2)Betul: A Dalit woman made an unsuccessful attempt to immolate herself at a function where ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was present. The incident took place in Bhainsdehi town, whereChouhan was taking part in district-level 'Antyodaya Mela' (an event highlighting various governmentschemes for the poor), official sources said. Geeta Bele, wife of Sukhlal Bele, a teacher at governmentschool at Dhamangaon, was apparently upset over disparities in service conditions of teaching staff. Shewanted to give a memorandum to the Chief Minister highlighting issues like same-work-same-pay,disparities in pay scales and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, amongothers. When she was prevented to do so, Geeta doused herself with kerosene and tried to selfimmolate.Alert policewomen present at the spot overpowered and took her away, they said. She wastaken to a nearby community health centre for medical examination. Police recorded the couple'sstatements and allowed them to go. Geeta later told reporters that she wanted to submit a memorandumto Chouhan drawing his attention towards disparities in service conditions of government teachers anddemand salary as per Sixth Pay Commission, among other issues. She also threatened to go on ahunger strike in support of her demands. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 14/2/13)Two men throw acid on Dalit woman (2)Lucknow: Two men allegedly threw acid at a Dalit woman's face in Alambagh area on Friday morning.The woman suffered about 20 per cent burns and was hospitalised for treatment. Police lodged an FIRunder various sections of IPC including 326 (Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons ormeans) against unidentified persons. According to police, Bimla, a permanent resident of Rae Bareli, whoworks as a domestic help in Alambagh area, was going near Kailashpuri Mor at around 11 am when twoyouths came and started an scuffle with her. After the woman fell on the ground, they spilled acid on herbody causing injuries at her face, hands and abdomen. The woman was admitted to the hospital by the


locals. Amita Singh, Circle Officer (Alambagh), said the woman was living in a rented house in Alambagharea with her husband and two children. The incident took place when there were not many people on theroad as it was raining, she said, adding that the woman suffered about 20 per cent burns. Singh saidprima facie it has been found that the woman's family had a dispute with another man in their village inRae Bareli district and she had filed a case under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act against him. The woman has alleged that she was being harassed by the family of theaccused, Tribhuan Singh, to withdraw the case. She said that she had seen the persons who threw acidat her earlier also but did not know their names, the CO said. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 16/2/13)Doctor, accomplice charge sheeted for gangraping Dalit girl (2)Muzaffarnagar: A doctor and his accomplice were charge sheeted today for allegedly abducting andraping an 18-year-old Dalit girl, police said. The doctor, Praveen Kumar Saini, and his friend DeepakKumar abducted the girl from Haibatpur village under Charthawal police station area when she hadstepped out of her home to relieve herself on January 16, police said. The duo raped her, they said,adding, police today filed charge sheet against the accused. Praveen has already surrendered in court,while the other accused is still absconding, police said. The victim was medically examined to confirm therape and her statement has been recorded in court, police said. (Hindustan Times 16/2/13)Dalit minor girl goes missing, family alleges kidnap by upper-caste boy (2)Panchkula: A Dalit girl has been kidnapped in Barwala and her parents are alleging that the person whohas abducted her is from an upper caste family. According to the family of the girl, Amita Karan, she wasnot found in her room by her father five days ago when the family members went to wake her up. Herfather, Ram Karan, said a boy from an upper caste family, who is working as a driver, abducted her. Thegirl is a minor. He however said that police has been unable to act on his complaint. Ram Karan said thata complaint was registered with the police, but neither the boy nor the girl could be traced. "We called thegirl on her cell phone yesterday, she picked up the phone but was made to snap the call by the personwho has abducted her. But police is saying that they cannot trace her and the girl will return on her own,"he said. The girl's father filed a complaint with Deputy Commissioner of Police, Panchkula, asking him tospeed up the investigation in the case. The girl is a minor, he said, adding that the boy has abducted herby deceiving her and convincing her that he will marry her. He said that an upper caste person from thevillage has been threatening him and has even coerced Kumar marry his girl to the boy. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express17/2/13)Unite or vanish, say Dalit, Adivasi women in one voice (2)Mumbai: "It is time to organize and keep our movement alive, rewrite history, and retell it to the world,"said 48-year-old Dayamani Barla. "Or else Dalit and Adivasi women will soon be found only in museumsand libraries," Barla, a Jharkhand land rights activist and journalist, said addressing a first-of-its-kindconference, 'All India Dalit and Adivasi Women's Congress' at Tata <strong>Institute</strong> of <strong>Social</strong> Sciences (TISS) onFriday. In a unique two-day session, over 200 Dalit and Adivasi women gathered to make their voicesheard. "Like sheep and cattle, our men and women (Dalit and Adivasi) have been parcelled from onestate to another for political rallies, it is time for us to rise above being decorative pieces in thesedominant caste politics and build our political power based on ideology," said P Sivakami, former IASofficer, and acclaimed Dalit writer and politician. Sivakami, who earlier contested the general election in2009 on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket from Kanyakumari and lost, has floated her own partySamuga Samathuva Padai (Forum for <strong>Social</strong> Equality). A motley group of writers, academicians,researchers, activists, professionals and students shared their experiences underlining their message to"organize, unite and fight." Students from over 20 universities across the country gathered to hear thewomen speak. Expressing the pressing need to organize and collectively make inroads into themainstream, Barla said tribal women have participated in jungle andolans along with men on an equal


footing. It was Barla's first public appearance since her release in December after spending nearly twomonths behind bars. She was arrested for leading a protest against the Jharkhand government's allegedacquisition of fertile land to build a Law university. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 20/2/13)Dalits barred from taking part in temple function (2)AJMER: The old and evil order of casteism and untouchability refused to die down and recently reared upit's ugly head with dalits being prevented from taking part in a yagna for a temple inauguration, for whichthey too have contributed. The incident happened in an interior village, Dhaulat Khera, of Pisangan blockin Ajmer district on Wednesday. Daulat Khera has about 450 households dominated by Jats, Rawats andNats. There are also 25 houses of Meghwals and three from the Raiger community. The village is mostlydependent on rain harvesting and cattle farming. When the need of a Tejaji temple was discussed, thevillagers decided to collect contributions from every household and each house has to pay Rs 2,500. "Wecontributed for the temple and therefore we too have the right to participate in every ritual there," amember of the dalit community preferring anonymity said. The inauguration of the temple was organizedWednesday morning and when the members of the dalit community reached there to take part in theyagna, they were denied entry by the powerful groups of the village. "They told us that only 51 coupleswill sit in the yagna and that we would not be allowed in it," he added. Congress MLA Mahandera SinghGujjar and other local representatives participated in the inauguration but said they were not aware ofsuch an incident. Sub-divisional magistrate Rajesh Goyal went to the spot upon receiving the informationand asked the community members to come out to register a complaint but none came forward. "I haveno idea if any member from the dalit community was banned from participating in the yagna," theCongress MLA said. Even sarpanch Chagan Lal Prajapat denied any orders on banning anyone fromparticipating in the yagna. "It is a tradition that only those who give money for sitting in the yagna areallowed and the dalits had not paid of it," he said. Meanwhile, a meeting was also called in which it wasdecided that a police complaint must be made but no one agreed to stand against the powerful groups ofthe village. "I got the call from the village of the ban and rushed to the place. I told everyone that if theyhad any problem they could contact immediately but no one came forward. I even asked them to come toa nearby government school if they are afraid of speaking in the village but in vain," said Bewar SDMRajesh Goyal. Goyal had deputed patwaris and other officials in the village to look into the issue. "I havetold them that if anyone comes forth in this regard, he or she should be brought to my office for furtheraction," the SDM added. Officials said if any dalit has a complaint regarding inequality, action will betaken as per law. "There is anxiety in the village and we are trying to convince people of the community tospeak out so that action can be taken," said Ramesh Bansal, coordinator of the Dalit Rights Center.(Times of India 21/2/13)Even minor offences against dalits may invite harsher penalty (2)NEW DELHI: Soon, even minor offences against dalits will come with higher costs. The government isplanning to include under the Prevention of Atrocities Act offences that attract less than 10-year jail term,a move that would compound the punishment since offences under the Act are non-bailable and are triedunder special courts. Presently, only crimes with more than 10-year term under IPC, with someexceptions, fall under the atrocities Act. The 10-year bar had left serious violations like rape, kidnappingand grievous hurt out of the purview of the stringent law. The inclusion of rape and other offences underthe atrocities law would eliminate the possibility of police diluting the intensity of the crime by claiming thatcaste was not the ground for the offence. According to sources, all the offences mentioned in the CriminalLaw Amendment Bill, being brought as part of beefing up laws on crimes against women post-Nirbhayacase, would also attract the atrocities law if the victim is a dalit. Union social justice ministry is mullingchanges to the atrocities law that were discussed by social justice minister Selja with state ministers onWednesday. "We plan to bring the amendments in the budget session," she said. The atrocities Act willnow include violations like criminal conspiracy with victim being dalit (Section 120), unlawful assembly to


overawe dalits or rioting, disobeying a legal direction to save an accused in anti-dalit crime. Wrongfullyrestraining a dalit (Section 341) or deterring a public servant from doing his duty (Section 353) would alsoattract action under the atrocities law. Importantly, the Centre is looking to ease the burden on the victimto prove that his/her caste was the reason for being targetted. The police often refuse to register caseunder the atrocity law by claiming that caste was not the reason for its commission. New offences thatwould qualify as anti-dalit crime will include garlanding with shoes and throwing waste at the door orpremises. Also, stopping a dalit from entering common property resources like burial or cremation ground,using water bodies like river or well or tank, public conveyance or road. The government is planning toincrease compensation for victims under the atrocities law, a must in all crimes against dalits. Though theCentre had hiked the compensation amount in December 2011, the Centre says it was not enough.Importantly, the compensation will be linked to inflation and be revised annually. (Times of India 21/2/13)Loan with subsidy for Dalits (2)DHARMAPURI: As many as 145 beneficiaries out of the 246 selected through a personal interviewconducted for the Dalits living in three colonies in Naikkankottai village by the officials of the DistrictIndustries Centre (DIC), Manager, Lead Bank and District Manager, Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housingand Development Corporation Ltd. (TAHDCO) from January 3 to 5 would be given loan to the tune of Rs.2.09 crore including the subsidy portion of Rs. 75 lakh soon, according to a press release that was issuedhere by District Collector R. Lilly here on Thursday. The press release said that out of the total applicantsof 327, only 246 eligible beneficiaries were selected for disbursing loan with subsidy by TAHDCO. Thefirst batch of 101 beneficiaries was given Rs. 1.69 crore including a subsidy of Rs. 50.03 lakh on February17. With a view to improving the livelihood of 327 Dalit families affected in the November 7, 2012 violenceunleashed by caste-Hindus, the district administration arranged on December 11 last year in associationwith the District Industries Centre, Tamil Nadu Adi Dravidar Housing and Development Corporation Ltd.and bankers to extend loans for starting self-employment. (The Hindu 22/2/13)Dalit killings: Cops sent to 3-day remand (2)Ahmedabad: A local court in Surendrangar district Sunday remanded three policemen in three-day policecustody in connection with the last year's Thangadh police firing incident in which three dalits were killed.The state CID, probing the firing incident, Saturday arrested police Sub-Inspector K P Jadeja andconstables Nathubha Jhala and Yogesh Gadhvi, who were on the run after three dalits were allegedlykilled in a police firing in Thangadh during a clash in September last. "A local court in Muli town inSurendranagar district Sunday remanded the trio in three-day police remand in this connection," said CID(Crime) DySP S P Trivedi. A Dalit community boy was killed on the spot and three others seriously injuredwhen police opened fire to disperse the violent mob that clashed with members of other community atThangadh in Surendranagar district on September 22, 2012, after holding of a fair. Two of the three boyslater succumbed to gunshot injuries. The CID was given the charge of investigations following a hugeuproar over the incident. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 25/2/13)A 100-day Dalit agitation gets no response (2)BANGALORE: It has been 100 days since 37 Dalit (Madiga) families of Shivanagar in Hiriyur taluk inChitradurga have been on a protest at Freedom Park in Bangalore, and the government has been deaf totheir demands, they say. Their request is for rehabilitation as they have allegedly been boycotted by“upper” caste Hindus of the adjoining Majure village, where most of them worked. After being evicted fromthe premises of the Hiriyur taluk office where they had protested earlier, over 115 Dalits, including womenand children, continued their dharna at Freedom Park. The protesters told The Hindu that they did notwant to register a complaint, as it could mean being forced to go back and live in the same place again.“We have no faith that the local police will protect us and help in rehabilitation,” said K. Nagaraju, who isleading the dharna under the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (B. Krishnappa faction). Dalits from Shivanagar, 12


km from Majure viallge, were eking out a living by working in the fields and houses of the “upper” caste inMajure. What brought the situation to a boil was the appointment of a Dalit woman, Lakshmamma ofShivanagar, as a cook in the anganwadi of Majure village. According to the protesters, residents ofMajure boycotted the Dalit families because Lakshmamma refused to sign a letter rejecting theappointment. “They did not want a Dalit to cook food and feed their children,” said Lakshmamma, who isamong the agitators. “They abused me in the foulest language and humiliated me.” According to M.Jagadish, another protester, village heads have warned residents of the village that they would be finedRs. 5,000 if they employ any Dalit from Shivanagar. “They even stopped shop owners from selling usgroceries,” he alleged. Except the very old, nobody is living in Shivanagar now, he added. The entireofficial machinery has failed to respond, he said. When The Hindu contacted M. Venkatesh, <strong>Social</strong>Welfare Officer at Chitradurga, he said: “The issue has been sorted out and a detailed report on the plightof Dalits is ready for submission soon.” (The Hindu 26/2/13)Dalit girls’ rape, murder rock Rajya Sabha (2)NEW DELHI: The brutal rape and murder of three minor Dalit girls in Maharashtra’s Bhandara districtrocked the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, with all political parties seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) inquiry into the heinous crime. Seeking a reply from Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, MPsexpressed anger and dismay that the State police have failed miserably, as the accused are still roamingfreely. Raising the issue during zero hour, Bharatkumar Raut of the Shiv Sena said all talk of women’sempowerment was meaningless when the girl child wasn’t safe, and asked the Centre to intervene.“Three Dalit sisters were raped and murdered and their bodies thrown into a well. Under whose protectionare these culprits, with the police hesitating to arrest them, when all the villagers knew who they were?,”he asked. The bodies of three missing minor girls, all below 11 years, were found in a well at Murwadivillage in Bhandara district in Nagpur on February 16. Calling it a shameful incident, Rajni Patil of theCongress said the case should be speeded up, besides seeking protection and relief for the victims’mother. The issue of rape of another Dalit minor, allegedly raped by her teacher, was also brought up,and proper investigation sought. Seeking a CBI inquiry, Hussain Dalwai and Bhalchandra Mungekar, bothfrom the Congress, said people have lost faith in the Maharashtra police, and hence the probe should bedone by the CBI. “Where is the conscience of the middle class, which surfaced during the ‘Nirbhaya’ case(the paramedic who was gang-raped last month) and resulted in them thronging India Gate andParliament? Are you dividing rape on caste lines?” Mr. Mungekar asked. He alleged that atrocities againstSCs/STs weren’t looked into seriously, and as per the National Crime Records Bureau data, there were1,000 rape cases annually, and the victims were girls belonging to such communities. (The Hindu27/2/13)Dalits return land, can keep houses (2)Faridkot: The fear of turning homeless has passed off for nearly 60 Dalit families.On Friday at Bir Sikhan Wala village in this district, the Maharval Kheva Ji Trust of Faridkot and thefamilies reached an amicable solution. The agreement says that the Dalits would remain on the trust landon which they have their houses but vacate another about 5 acres they use for various purposes. Thesitting down for agreement was forced by the outcome of a court decision on the dispute, in which BoharSingh of Bir Sikhan Wala and others had pleaded for making the possession of land legal. The Dalits lostthe case because the 15 acres, on the most part of which they made 150 houses more than 50 yearsago, is the property of Raja Haridner Singh, former ruler of the erstwhile princely estate of Faridkot, whichafter his death, is cared by the Maharwal Kheva Ji Trust. After the order of the Faridkot court, nearly allDalit people on the land were illegal occupants of the site in khasra 342. After the verdict, however, effortswere made for settlement, which both parties reached on Friday. After the trustees sought help from thecourt in executing the order, the revenue department had asked the police for force to support theoperation to demarcate the site for the trust. The kanungo of Panjgrain Kalan had first written to the police


for security before the February 11 eviction plan but there could be no operation that day. The court hadagain instructed the officials concerned to implement the order before Saturday (March 2). On Friday, aheavy police contingent, quick reaction team, and fire brigade were at the village to avoid any clash andthe trust had the possession back smoothly. “We were there to implement the court orders but out ofsympathy, the trust agreed to spare the Dalit houses,” confirmed tehsildar Darshan Singh Sidhu. “TheMKJ Trust, however, will reclaim the land that is vacant.” "Everything was peaceful. The force didn’t haveto prevent anything,” said Bikramjeet Singh, deputy superintendent of police from Jaitu, who was at thesite. (Hindustan Times 1/3/13)‘Government not looking after Dalits’ (2)Hassan: State secretary of Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (Ambedkar Vada) Mavalli Shankar on Sunday allegedthat the State government was more interested in granting crores of rupees to religious institutions thanlooking after the poor and Dalits. He was speaking after inaugurating a programme, organised by theHassan district wing of the DSS, to mark Jyotiba Phule’s birth anniversary. Mr. Shankar claimed that alarge number of government schools and hostels had been closed in the last few years, denyinghundreds of students the opportunity to study. He also took serious exception to the government’s “lack ofaction” against the former president of the Karnataka Unaided Schools’ Management Associationpresident G.S. Sharma for his alleged derogatory remarks on admitting children under the 25 per centquota of the Right to Education Act. Praising Jyotiba Phule as the first man to open a school for girlchildren in India, Mr. Shankar said the students should be taught about his contribution. “Students shouldbe made to remember Jyotiba Phule,” he said. Artist K.T. Shivaprasad and D.G. Krishne Gowda werepresent at the programme. (The Hindu 4/3/13)Tension in Bhiwani village after clash over wedding tradition performed by dalit boy (2)BHIWANI: Police have been deployed in a village of Bhiwani district in Haryana following a clash betweendalits and upper-caste youths during a wedding ceremony on Friday night. The situation had turned tensewhen some upper caste youths forcibly stopped a dalit groom from performing ghurchari, a traditionalmarriage ceremony in which the groom rides a mare and takes a round of the village. An uneasy calmprevailed in Ratera village even on Monday, four days after the clash in which over a dozen persons,including women, had received injuries. Police on Saturday had registered a case under various sectionsof IPC and SC/ST Act against 20 upper caste youths and arrested ten of them on Sunday. However, withno comprise struck between the two parties, the entire village is living under a shadow of fear, sourcessaid. The dalit victim's family on Monday called on police officials and demanded the arrest of all accusedas around ten persons are still roaming free in the village. The dalit groom, Rakesh Kumar, 24, who isemployed as a conductor with Haryana Roadways, had got married on Friday. Before going to his bride'svillage to tie the knot, the marriage ceremony of ghurchari was being performed in the village on Fridaywhen some upper caste men objected, saying that ghurchari by dalits is not allowed in the village."Though police have arrested ten persons, some more are still present in the village, who could be athreat to us. We met the SP today and demanded that all the accused should be arrested", Rakesh's auntIndravati Devi said. Bhiwani SP Simerdeep Singh said that police had nabbed ten persons and deployedforce in the village and at the house of the victim. "The situation is normal in the village. A probe hasstarted into the case. Whoever found guilty would be arrested as police have booked the accused undervarious sections of IPC and SC/ST Act", he said. (Times of India 5/3/13)Panchayat imposes social boycott of Dalits (2)Patna: A panchayat in Bihar’s Kishanganj district has imposed social and economic boycott of Dalits as adeterrent to their filing of cases under the Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities)Act. The Dosia panchayat of Charakhpura village called upon the village not to sell provisions to Dalitsand exclude them from other facilities. The problem began after a Muslim woman had a fight with a Dalit


girl over picking up dung from a field. “The woman assaulted the girl. After this, there were rumours thatDalits were planning to file a case under the Atrocities Act. In anticipation, the mukhiya, sarpanch andzilla parishad [ZP] members had a meeting in which they told the Muslim community to socially andeconomically boycott Dalits. They said Dalits were filing cases under the Act,” Superintendent of PoliceManoj Kumar told The Hindu . An FIR under the Act was filed against 15 persons, including village headAnwar Alam and ZP members. No one has been arrested yet. Tension prevailed in the village for sometime on Tuesday. (The Hindu 6/3/13)K’pada village Dalits denied school, road by upper caste (2)KENDRAPADA: Dalits from Karandiapatana village under Mehendipur Gram Panchayat underMarshaghai block on Monday urged District Collector Durga Prasad Behera for a primary school and aroad in their village after the upper caste people assaulted and ostracized them over a land dispute inFebruary, 2010. District Welfare Officer (DWO) Charulata Mallick said the Dalits met the District Collectorin the grievance cell and told him that their children were earlier abused and misbehaved with by theupper caste villagers when they attended the school. Their children were told not to use the road whichpasses through the houses of upper caste people. They said the Dalits were harassed for over threeyears. They said that they were forced to admit their children in a neighbouring school at Japada, about1.5 km from the village after taking school leaving certificate from the local school. District CollectorBehera directed the DPC of SSA to take steps for sanctioning a project primary school for the Dalits anda road. When contacted, SSA DPC Kailash Chandra Das stated that the district administration has writtento the Mass Education department for sanctioning a project primary school for the Dalit children. Notably,the Dalits of Karandiapatana village drew the wrath of the upper caste people on February 18, 2010 overdigging of earth from a Goochar land for the construction of a Hanuman temple. The upper caste peopleforcibly entered into their houses and ransacked the houses by throwing household items, utensils andclothes by damaging valuable household items. Even they had allegedly molested the Dalit women.Later, the police had nabbed 10 upper caste persons for creating the mayhem. At least 25 Dalit childrenof Karandiapatana village in Kendrapada district's Marsaghai block had allegedly been compelled toobtain school leaving certificates (SLC) from Surendra Vidyapith in Rankal village and got themselvesadmitted to another school. The National Schedule Caste and Schedule Tribe Department had fundedsum of Rs 2.09 lakh as financial assistance to the Dalit victims of the village. Later, the districtadministration had distributed compensation amount to 43 Dalits. Notably, the National Commission forScheduled Castes (NCSC) in March, 2010 had intervened in the matter and sought report from theDistrict Collector and the SP on the issue. (Pioneer 7/3/13)Dy SP’s murder could unravel grand anti-dalit plan (2)NEW DELHI: The continuing outrage over the murder of a Muslim police officer threatens to neutralizethe cunningly crafted Samajwadi plan to use "promotion quota" to mobilize Muslims, backwards andupper castes on the anti-dalit plank. The young widow's finger of suspicion at Mulayam Singh Yadavprotege and Kunda MLA Raja Bhaiya has locked the Samajwadis into a defensive posture, unable torebuff the accusation for fear of sending a negative signal to Muslims. Reports that DySP Zia-ul-Haq wasfinalizing a report on a communal attack that could implicate Raja Bhaiya's aides has compounded thesensitivity of the issue. The murder as a sign of growing law and order problem under Akhilesh Yadav'swatch could dash Mulayam's hope of cobbling together a wider social coalition sans dalits who vote forMayawati, a hope raised by the response to his decision to oppose "promotion quota".Disquiet amongMuslims is palpable but compounding the Samajwadi misery is the disappointment among upper castemiddleclasses who see their worst fears on law and order coming true. Now, if CBI arrests Raja Bhaiyaand he faces prolonged incarceration, SP could face the anger of the influential Thakurs whom it hasbeen wooing, ironically, through leaders like the Kunda MLA. The damage potential of Zia's shooting wasevident in Parliament this week as Samajwadis uncharacteristically discouraged the "religious angle" to


the incident while the rivals went on the offensive. The political class is unanimous that SP's fate woulddepend on how the Kunda murder unfolds in the coming days. If widow Parveen Azad, already beingseen as a symbol of courage, continues to raise suspicion on the Samajwadi-Raja Bhaiya combo, it couldhave disastrous consequences. The signs are ominous as Parveen urged visiting Congress MPs NirmalKhatri and junior home minister RPN Singh on Friday that "CBI team from Delhi should probe the case" -betraying fears that local sleuths could be influenced. Since winning Lucknow an year ago, Samajwadishave been into an extended campaign mode for 2014, coalescing non-dalits under the party banner anddoling out benefits to bait the poor. However, Muslims have been seething at rising communal incidentsafter the absolute peace under Mayawati. Zia's murder, rivals claim, can do to SP what hushing up ofRizwanur Rahman's killing did to the Left regime in Bengal. (Times of India 9/3/13)Include dalit literature in university syllabus: Experts (2)PALANPUR: Participants at a two-day national seminar on 'Dalit literature: <strong>Social</strong> and literaryperspectives' have stressed upon the need to include dalit literature in the university syllabus. Literaryexperts from various states participated at the event that concluded at BPB Arts and MH Guru CommerceCollege at Unjha in Mehsana district on Friday. The seminar was sponsored by University GrantsCommission. In his keynote address, Satya Narayana—associate professor of English at English andForeign Languages University (EFLU) in Hyderabad—said, "An institution can do a lot to accelerate thecause of dalits. Compared to Karnataka and Maharashtra, Gujarat is lagging far behind in popularizingdalit literature. There is a need to spread dalit literature in order to inform its eminence in changing socialset up." Secretary of Gujarat Dalit Sahitya Academy, Harish Manglam, said, "Dalit is not a caste but asynonym of change, a revolution and a movement." Palanpur: Participants at a two-day national seminaron 'Dalit literature: <strong>Social</strong> and literary perspectives' have stressed upon the need to include dalit literaturein the university syllabus. Literary experts from various states participated at the event that concluded atBPB Arts and MH Guru Commerce College at Unjha in Mehsana district on Friday. The seminar wassponsored by University Grants Commission. In his keynote address, Satya Narayana—associateprofessor of English at English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU) in Hyderabad—said, "Aninstitution can do a lot to accelerate the cause of dalits. Compared to Karnataka and Maharashtra,Gujarat is lagging far behind in popularizing dalit literature. There is a need to spread dalit literature inorder to inform its eminence in changing social set up." Secretary of Gujarat Dalit Sahitya Academy,Harish Manglam, said, "Dalit is not a caste but a synonym of change, a revolution and a movement."(Times of India 10/3/13)Dalit body launches state-wide protest over stalled funds (2)Patiala: Protesting against Punjab government's failure to release Rs. 4,039 crore allocated for variouswelfare schemes under the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan, the Chamar Mahan Sabha on Monday launcheda state-wide agitation here. Nearly 400 agitators raised slogans against chief minister Parkash SinghBadal and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. They staged protest marches at different places inthe city. Sabha president Paramjit Singh Kainth said the SAD-BJP government was least bothered aboutreleasing the money meant for the welfare of the community. He further said that in order to createawareness over the issue, protest marches would be organised all over Punjab. He said earlier theNational Commission for Scheduled Castes had pulled up the state government after being dissatisfiedwith its answer presented by the chief secretary on the issue of utilisation of the SC Sub-Plan. “Despiteseveral assurances, the state government has failed to produce any kind of record or documentaryevidence to prove any progress on this matter,” he fumed. (Hindustan Times 11/3/13)New generation of Dalits struggles with old state of intolerance (2)They are denied entry to temples, given restricted access to water, made to work for a pittance. Now thatOrissa's Dalits are asserting themselves against traditions, many are facing ostracism or violent attacks.


Debabrata Mohanty reportsUntil a month before Naveen Patnaik became Orissa's chief minister in March2000, Dalit labourer Ganapati Naik, now 42, had been living a happy if impoverished life with his brideand parents in Balichhai village of Ganjam district. On February 20, Babula Nayak, 28, of the Hadi caste(one of 93 scheduled castes in Orissa) of Balichhai was buying potatoes when his hand accidentallybrushed that of grocer Pradip Patra, who belonged to a higher caste. Patra hurled abuses at Nayak for"desecrating" him. The village was already tense as Dalit youths had started questioning thediscrimination they had been facing for generations. Over the next few days, Dalit houses were burnt ordemolished, men beaten up, and women abused and at times molested. Today, Ganapati and his familyof six are cooped up in a poultry farm in Balipadar village, 10 km from Balichhai, unable to return home asthe upper castes have taken over the village. The farm belongs to Ganapati's uncle, who has rented it outto the fleeing family. "I want to go back. Who would want to stay in a dark broiler farm?" says Ganapati."But who would guarantee my safety?" Fifty other Dalit families feel the same, having fled Balichhai toBhubaneswar and elsewhere. In judgments in 2006 and 2011, the Orissa Human Rights Commissionsaid the Balichhai case was a clear one of torture, social injustice and atrocities against the Dalitpopulation by upper caste Hindus. "The district administration and the police have to work out an actionplan... It would be just inhuman and unacceptable to leave a weaker section of the community sufferingthe atrocity caused by the rest of the community." Dalits form a little under 17 per cent of Orissa's fourcrore population and are concentrated mostly in the coastal districts. Between 2009 and 2011, policelodged over 3,700 cases under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, according to data withthe state SC/ST department. In the western district of Bolangir, the houses of 50 families of Lathor villagewere burnt in January 2012 after a boy had reportedly "stolen" a shirt from the shop of an upper-casteowner. In Puri district, a Dalit was killed last year, allegedly by upper-caste villagers, after he refused tosurrender land registered in his name. And in Kendrapara, a Dalit woman who cooked mid-day meals at aschool committed suicide in November 2010, allegedly because of harassment by upper castes…. (<strong>Indian</strong>Express 13/3/13)Dalits protest at collectorate against casteist violence (2)GREATER NOIDA: A massive protest took place at the collectorate against periodic episodes of violencein Ramgarh village in Dadri area of Greater Noida. With almost 200 protesters forcing their way into thecollectorate demanding justice, the administration was forced to partially agree to their demands. Exactlya year ago, on March 14, 2012, 19 people were brutally attacked by upper-caste men. Residents of aDalit colony in the village were attacked with sticks. The violence was sparked off by a property-relatedcase wherein a Dalit family had lodged a case against an upper-caste Gujjar group. In July 2012, a 24-year-old Dalit man's legs had to be amputated after he was found on the rail tracks, days after heprotested alleged attempts made by Gujjars to sell off land that Dalits claim belongs to them. The victim,Tika Ram's family, was one of the 70 who were allotted land in the village by the Mayawati government tobuild houses, residents said. Several Gujjars, they said, had sold land to a real estate developer and wereasking Dalits to sell their plots as well. According to the protesters, the administration has not only failedto prosecute the accused in previous cases but also failed to stop the continued harassment of Dalitfamilies in the village. The protest forced the district administration to agree to meet the members of theRYA. "The district magistrate will listen to their demands in two days," said an official. (Times of India15/3/13)D’nal Dalit rape, murder: Main accused held (2)Bhubaneswar: Police arrested the principal accused in connection with the sexual assault and killing of a17-year-old Dalit girl of Mathatentulia village under Gondia police limits in Dhenkanal district on Tuesday.A manhunt has been launched to nab the other accused who are absconding. The main accused ShibajiNayak of Mathatentulia and his other four friends had raped the Dalit girl and then burnt her alive in herhouse in the absence of her parents on Tuesday night. The criminals before committing the heinous


crime had locked the girl inside the house. “We are searching the other accused. Very shortly, we wouldarrest the aides of mastermind Nayak who have gone underground,” said Dhenkanal SP ManoranjanMohanty. Meanwhile, the rape and murder of the Dalit girl a few months after the Rayagada rape incidenthas created a hue and cry in the political sphere. Pradesh Congress Committee president NiranjanPatnaik condemned the act as barbaric and mindless. “I request the State Government to take immediatesteps to arrest the culprits and try them through a special fast track court,” said Patnaik. Patnaikcontinued, “We should collectively work towards creating a system which guarantees security to oursisters and mothers and ensure their dignity is protected.” Similarly, a delegation led by Samajwadi PartyState committee president Rabi Behera handed over a memorandum to the Governor demandingtermination of the local police officer for negligence of duty and immediate arrest of all the accusedpersons involved in the case. The party also demanded Rs 10 lakh as compensation to the family of thedeceased and exemplary punishment to the accused through trial in a fast track court within 90 days.(Pioneer 16/3/13)NCSC pulls up police for inaction on Dalit girl's complaint (2)Jalandhar:: Responding to reports of police inaction over a Dalit girl's complaint that she was sold off to aland owner three years ago, the National Commission for SC/ST on Monday summoned the seniorsuperintendent of police and directed him to arrest the accused within a week. Vice chairman of theNational Commission for SC/ST, Raj Kumar Verka issued the summons to the SSP, who did not respondto it. However, Kapurthala SP Baljit Singh presented himself before Verka, who told him that an FIR hasto be registered in the case within three days followed by arrests in seven days. According to thecommission, the girl, now 17, has alleged that three years ago she was sold off by her uncle to physicallychallengedBatala landowner Lakhvir Singh in exchange for Rs. 70,000. The girl managed to escape thelandowner's custody three months ago, following which she filed a complaint in the matter. However,authorities in Kapurthala district did not take any action, prompting her to approach the NationalCommission for redressal. Verka sought an explanation from the SP as to why no action had been takenon the complaint filed by the girl, who belongs to Kapurthala. Singh said after studying the case, they hadreferred it to Batala police in Gurdaspur district as the case had originated there. This prompted Verka toissue an order directing the inspector general of Jalandhar and the border ranges to submit within threedays an affidavit declaring which of them had jurisdiction in the case. Verka warned the SP againstignoring the orders of the commission and said failure to act as directed would result in "the inspectorsgeneral of Jalandhar and Border ranges being summoned with other senior officials to appear before it".(<strong>Indian</strong> Express 18/3/13)Dalit woman gang-raped in Bhopal (2)BHOPAL: A 29-year-old dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped by three friends of her husband in Satnadistrict. The incident occurred at Pahadigaon village in Maihar tehsil on March 15, and a complaint wasfiled on Sunday night. Police said the victim had married a Muslim youth four months ago. She was livingalone for the past one month after her husband was arrested and sent to jail in connection with a theftcase. Three accused-Neeraj Puri, 23, Rinku Chaurasia, 27, and Naseer Khan,30, reportedly went to herhouse on March 15 and promised her that they would get her husband out on bail. As they were herhusband's friends, she allowed them in and offered tea. As soon as she went inside the kitchen, one ofthe accused locked the door from inside. Two of them overpowered her and gagged her mouth andanother tore her clothes. The three raped her taking turns and also threatened her with direconsequences before leaving the house, said police. She told her husband after he got out on bail onSunday. Subsequently, the two went to the Maihar police station and lodged a complaint against theaccused. The victim was sent for medical examination. Police conducted raids and arrested all three ofthem under Section 376 (2g)(gang rape), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 3/2/5 of the SC/ST Act. (Timesof India 19/3/13)


Dalit forums push for law giving statutory status to SC, ST special plan (2)BANGALORE: With elections to the Assembly just around the corner in Karnataka, several Dalit groupshave appealed to political parties to pass the legislation to provide statutory status to the SpecialComponent Plan (SCP) and the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) in their election manifestos. The Karnataka DalitaMahila Vedike (KDMV) and the Centre for Dalit Studies (CDS) Hyderabad have said a separate lawwould facilitate allocation of budget for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes’ welfare in proportion totheir population in the State. Such a law exists in Andhra Pradesh where not only does it ensureallocation of funds to SC and ST communities in proportion to their population, but also makes sure oftotal utilisation of funds allocated to these sections in the planned budget. Addressing the media, M.Anjaneyulu, director of CDS; Satyanarayana, president of CDS; and Yashoda P., convener, KDMV; onTuesday said such a legislation was essential in Karnataka as the resources earmarked have beenarbitrary and sub-optimal. Except for Andhra Pradesh, no other State has taken the initiative to pass a Billto extend social justice to SC and ST community, Mr. Anjaneyulu said. Regretting the failure inimplementing both the plans in Karnataka, Ms. Yashoda said funds allocated for plans had been divertedand there was no accountability. Efforts were now on to launch a movement to bring pressure on thegovernment to pass a law based on the Andhra Pradesh model. (The Hindu 20/3/13)Dalita Sankharavam on April 9 (2)RAJAHMUNDRY: All dalit communities are going to hold 'Dalita Sankharavam’ here on April 9 to explainthe benefits and salient features of the SC, ST Sub-Plan announced by the State government.Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, SC legal cell chairman Gulla Yedukondalu, StateSC Cell conveners Peetala Jayadev, Dake Raghu and B. Karunakar said Chief Minister N. Kiran KumarReddy and Deputy Chief Minister Damodara Raja Narasimha would be felicitated on the occasion.Amalapuram MP G.V. Harsha Kumar, who organised Malala Simha Garjana, would organise this meetingagain, but it would be at the district level. All SCs, including Mala, Madiga and their sub-castes, wouldparticipate in the meeting. Union Ministers Mukul Wasnik and Panabaka Lakshmi would be invited to themeeting as chief guests. Mr. Peetala Jayababu said an appeal would be made to the Ministers attendingthe meeting not to treat SCs as vote bank but enable them to get their legitimate share in all posts andpower. (The Hindu 21/3/13)3 dalits families attacked in Dadri (2)RAMGARH (DADRI): Three Dalit families were attacked in Ramgarh village in Dadri late on Sunday night.For the last one year, the 60-odd Dalit families in the village have allegedly been facing repeated violencepropagated by upper-caste Gujjars who have been pressuring them to sell of their land to a real estatedeveloper. The land was allotted to them by the erstwhile cgovernment. The villagers claimed the policehave written off the incident as merely a clash between two groups. Last year, a 24-year-old Dalit man,Tika Ram, was allegedly thrown in the path of an approaching train and his legs had to be amputated. AB.Ed student at a Dadri college, Tika Ram was among 70 others who were allotted 4.7 bighas to buildhouses in 2012. But several Gujjars had allegedly grabbed their land, constructing a wall around it tokeep them out. When Tika Ram and other affected Dalit families protested, they faced a violent backlash.On Sunday night, the homes of Brahmpal, Sheeshpal and Bishambar's were attacked by others in thevillage of the same Jatav community, the sub-caste to which Mayawati belongs. The clash between thetwo groups saw at least 15 people severely injured, with 8 members of families whose land had allegedlybeen grabbed getting treated at the district hospital in Noida on Monday. Bhuvanesh Kumar, the son ofBrahmpal, whose fingers had been shredded in the attack, said that the attackers were Jatavs who hadjoined in with the Gujjars. "Some of the Dalit families had joined hands with the Gujjars. They want to selloff their land because they're being offered lots of money and now they're attacking us because they wantus to do the same," he said. What makes the village crucial is its proximity to Greater Noida. A private


construction company has acquired most of the land around the village to build a mega city consisting ofhousing societies, shopping malls and schools. The 4.75 bighas of land under dispute can easily fetch Rs5 crore at existing market value. The attack on Sunday was allegedly sparked of by a protest on March14, a day that marked the one-year anniversary of a brutal attack. Lasting three hours, 19 Dalits wereallegedly attacked by upper-caste men after a family lodged a case of land grabbing against the uppercasteGujjar group. Police, however, maintain that the clash was merely a fight between two groupssparked off by 'personal issues'. "Both parties were injured. It wasn't related to the previous incident ofland grabbing," said Sanjay Verma, SHO Dadri. Verma denied allegations of ongoing violence anddiscrimination in the village against the Jatav community by the Gujjars. A case under Sections 147 and148 of the IPC have been registered. (Times of India 26/3/13)65 pro-dalit activists arrested in Ooty during protest (2)UDHAGAMANDALAM: Sixty five activists of pro-Dalit outfits were arrested here on Tuesday when theytried to stage a demonstration against a meeting held under the banner of 'Anaithu SamudayaPeriyakkam' (Federation of All <strong>Social</strong> Organisations), under leadership of PMK Leader Dr S Ramadoss.Workers of Viduthalai Chituthaigal Katchi, Naam Tamizhar Katchi and Periyar Dravida Kazhakam raisedslogans against the meeting and caste leaders and tried to barge into a hotel where the meeting is beingheld, police said. However, they were removed and arrested, police said. Meanwhile,Ramadoss toldreporters that the meeting wanted amendements to the PCR Act, which was allegedly being misused byvarious organisations "to take revenge on caste basis." In this regard the Federation would holddemonstrations in all district headquarters in May, he said, adding a similar demonstration would be heldin Delhi, highlighting the need to amend the act to stop its misuse. The meeting also wanted to put an endto forcible 'love marriages' to make money, he said. The organisations would also move to Northern andEastern States, where such 'love marriages' were in prevalence, Ramadoss said. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express27/3/13)Inquiry ordered into dalit boy’s suicide in Gadchiroli village (2)Nagpur: The District collector of Gadchiroli ordered an inquiry into the case of suicide of a Dalit boy inKatali village of Gadchiroli, allegedly due to police harassment. “As the District Magistrate of Gadchiroli, Ihave ordered an SDM (Sub-Divisional Magistrate) inquiry into the matter after the mother of the victimmet me today with some activists” Gadchiroli collector Abhishekh Krishna told The Hindu over phone.Sachin Gopal Goradwar, 23, of village Katali in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra had committed suicideon March 14, allegedly after five police personnel from Gadchiroli police assaulted his mother and twoyounger sisters. The family of the victim had alleged that he killed himself in the presence of the fivepolice personnel. The family of the victim had also claimed that the police have registered no caseagainst the police personnel involved. But the Superintendent of Police (SP) Gadchiroli, Mohd.SuvezHaque said the SDPO (Sub-Divisional Police Officer) of Gadchiroli is already conducting an inquiry intothe matter. (The Hindu 27/3/13)Dalit girl gang-raped in moving car in Amritsar (2)AMRITSAR: Four men allegedly abducted and gang raped a 21-year-old dalit girl in a moving car inAmritsar on Monday night. The four picked up the girl, a saleswoman at a mobile phone store, while shewas on her way to the state bus terminus to catch a bus. Police said a case had been registered againstthe four, who remained on the run. In her complaint, the girl said one of the men sitting on the rear seat ofthe gray-coloured car pulled her in as she was on her way to the terminus. She said she was taken toAmritsar outskirts, where two more people boarded the car. The four then tied her hands with a rope anddrugged her as she tried to raise an alarm. They then took turns to rape her before dumping her nearAmritsar's Rani Ka Bagh area. Amritsar police commissioner Ram Singh identified three of the four asAbhi, Aditya and Rocky. He said the identity of the fourth accused was unknown. Singh said the girl had


heard the accused addressing each other by these names and that the true identities of the four were stillto be ascertained. (Times of India 28/3/13)Killed dalits laid at Hooda’s doorstep (2)ROHTAK: Family members of two dalits including a 10-year-old boy in who were shot dead allegedly byupper-caste men in Madina village in Haryana's Rohtak district staged a demonstration outside Haryanachief minister's house in Rohtak on Sunday. They left the bodies of the victims on the road in protest anddemanded all the accused be arrested. The two victims - Sudhir Kumar (10), son of Sansar Kumar, andhis cousin Vikram Kumar (22) -- were shot dead by three Jat youths of the same village when they werereturning from the fields on Sunday. A third victim — Sandeep -- is in hospital. The victim's family allegedthat the assailants, two of them identified as Bhumi and Mandeep, harbored enmity towards them for lasteight months. The protesters walked to the CM's house after receiving the bodies from the hospital. Theprotesters forced their way to the house and put the bodies on the road next to it. Officials assured themthat the accused would be arrested at the earliest and adequate compensation to the victim's family afterwhich the protesters moved away. The police have arrested eight of 18 persons accused of murder andconspiracy in this case. The three accused who fired at the men are missing. Rohtak DSP (HQ) SumitKumar said that the police had registered a case against the accused on the statement of Sansar. Apolice officer conducting the probe said that on July 15 last year, Mandeep allegedly barged into Sansar'shouse with "wrong intentions." Mandeep was caught and allegedly beaten up resulting in a rift betweenthe members of the two communities. The police at that time had registered a case against both parties,the officer said. The dalits had demanded security due to threats from the Jat community and the policehad set up temporary police check-post near the dalit locality at that time. They lifted the police postrecently. Additional police force has been deployed in the village in view of the tension still prevailingthere. (Times of India 1/4/13)Jakhar to CM: Explain why Rs3,047 cr for SC welfare not utilized (2)Chandigarh: Congress Legislature Party leader Sunil Kumar Jakhar on Monday sought an explanationfrom Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for not utilizing the Rs3,047 crore that was earmarkedfor the welfare of Scheduled Castes (SC) for 2012-13 in sub-plan schemes. Jakhar said that ChiefMinister owes an explanation to dalit communities in particular as to why Rs3,047 crore earmarked fortheir welfare could not be utilized. “Chief Minister should also explain to which schemes or plans theseprecious funds have been diverted,” he added. Jakhar alleged that the State Government has also failedin releasing the post matric scholarships worth crore of rupees sanctioned by the Central Government forwelfare of SC-ST students. “The whopping funds are also diverted to meet miscellaneous expenseswhich the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had pointed out in its report,” added Congress leaderJakhar. Already, the Chamar Maha Sabha president Paramjit Kainth has lodged a complaint against theState Government in this connection with the National Commission for SCs and STs. “If Chief MinisterBadal means what he says, he should release such grants to the eligible persons of dalit communitieswithout further delay,” Jakhar added. At the same time, Jakhar welcomed Chief Minister’s move todevelop Valmiki Ashram (Ram Tirath) near Amritsar, for which Rs115 crore has already been allocated.“This would be a befitting tribute to the great saint who is worshipped globally and his teachings arefollowed by millions of people including dalit communities,” said Sunil Kumar Jakhar. (Pioneer 2/4/13)Dalit double murder: Kins given R 5 lakh each (2)Rohtak: A day after the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) visited the Madina7 village inthe wake of tension owing to the murder of two dalits, the district administration has given ex-gratia of Rs.5 lakh each to the kins of the deceased. Meham sub-divisional magistrate Rajiv Ahlawat told HT: "Thecompensation cheque has been handed over to the family members of Sudhir and Vikram who were


killed on March 30 (Saturday)." Notably, tension gripped Madina village, 18 km from here on the Hisar-Delhi road, after two members of the Dalit community were shot dead, while injuring a third one, identifiedas Sandeep, by three motorcycle-borne youths. One Amit Kumar (in twenties) was arrested by the policefrom a village in Jind on Monday. (Hindustan Times 3/4/13)Verka demands report on allegations of discrimination against Dalits (2)Bathinda: National SC/ST Commission vice-chairman Raj Kumar Verka has demanded the action-takenreport from the district administration on the alleged discrimination against Dalits at a gurdwara atLehrakhana village in the district. Verka was here to discuss the status of the SC/ST welfare schemesand programmes running in the district with the administration. "This issue was not discussed at themeeting. The district authorities did not inform me of the case," Verka said at a press conference after themeeting held with deputy commissioner KK Yadav, SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar and other district officials."I have come to know about this case from the media. I will serve a seven-day notice on the Bathinda DCand SSP to submit the action-taken report on the issue," said Verka. Tension had mounted at Lehrakhanavillage after Dalits were allegedly discriminated against. Sitting Congress MLA from Tarn Taran, Verkawas also not happy with the district administration for presenting a "half-hearted" report on the status ofcases registered under the SC/ST Act. "They provided an incomplete report on the status of casesregistered under the SC/ST Act. I have told them to provide me details of the conviction rate in thesecases." Verka said, "The cases of exploitation of Dalits have been increasing in the state. The Punjabgovernment has not been running any schemes for Dalits. They are also sending back the money sent bythe Centre for constructing hostels for Dalit students." On the status of reservation in the state, Verkasaid, "Punjab has the highest Dalit population in India. But the state government is not providing jobs inthat ratio. Only 13% posts under reservation have been filled in the state whereas at least 33% suchposts should be filled." (Hindustan Times 5/4/13)Dalit minor girl raped in Bhiwani (2)ROHTAK: Police arrested an upper-caste man on Sunday for allegedly raping a minor dalit girl inHaryana's Bhiwani district. The 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped on the night of April 3 but she keptquiet about it till April 6. The police registered a case against Zile Singh (32) who owns a shop in thevillage on Saturday night and arrested him on Sunday. The victim had gone out of her house on April 3when Singh took her to a nearby abandoned house and allegedly raped her. He kept the girl with himovernight and released her in the morning, according to the police FIR. She returned home before otherfamily members woke up and did not tell anyone. But her family suspected that something wrong hadhappened with her after they noticed change in her behaviour. She finally told them about the rape onSaturday evening. A police officer said that the victim with her family filed a complaint on Saturday afterwhich they registered a case against Singh. Singh will be produced in the court on Monday, the officersaid. (Times of India 8/4/13)CITU to fight for dalits and tribals (2)KANNUR: The CITU has vowed to take up the issues of the dalits, tribals and the oppressed, A KPadmanabhan, the newly elected national president of the CITU has said. “Dalits and tribals are the worstoppressed and are driven away from their land and habitats by multinational companies. “In many states,tribal people are on the warpath for survival. “The union will take up their cause and will form a widerplatform of trade unions in their defence. Whole workers will fight for the tribals and it will be a massstruggle,” Padmanabhan added. Delegates from Tamil Nadu have reported that 84 types of untouchabilityare being practised in the state even now. And various organisations, under a common platform, arefighting against this. The Centre for <strong>Indian</strong> Trade Union will take a leading role in the struggle againstuntouchability and social oppression, Padmanabhan said. The neo-liberal policies of the government willrender job reservation redundant, the conference observed. “What is the use of job reservations when


employment generation itself is in peril,” wondered A K Padmanabhan, explaining the union’s stand onthe issue. As the government is backing off from its role as a major employer, reservation would servenone in the future. So, reservation should be implemented in all sectors, wherever jobs are created, theconference demanded. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 9/4/13)In Modi’s Gujarat, no Narmada water for dalits (2)CHITALIYA (RAJKOT): In the villages of Jasdan taluka in drought-hit Saurashtra, dalit women prefer toremain silent. That's for the fear of the upper castes in a state whose chief minister Narendra Modi is busytrying to conjure up an eclectic image to subserve his perceived prime ministerial ambitions for 2014polls. "Those people (upper castes) will abuse us again if we speak," mumbled one of the women, only tobe given a warning look by the others. The water scarcity in Saurashtra is due to deficient rainfall, but thecalamity is man-made for the dalits. Members of the community claim they are not allowed access toNarmada water, the only source of drinking water, by upper caste members. Ironically, upper castefarmers have their own borewells and don't need Narmada water as much. The dalits in ten villages of thetaluka allege they are not even allowed to draw water from the main sump. "We have to listen to casteistremarks and are even threatened if we get close to the sump," said Jaya Makwana, who fetches waterunder scorching sun from a source 3km farther. The worst affected are villages of Chitaliya, Khadvavadi,Kanesara, Parevala, Jivapar, Nani Lakhavad, Kothi, Barvala and Devdhari. There are around 100 dalitfamilies in each village dominated by Kolis. Unable to bear both injustice and thirst, women from thesevillages recently approached the deputy collector with their tale of woes. But the women were allegedlythreatened on their return for taking up the issue with the authorities. "Should we remain thirsty becausewe are untouchables?" Makwana fumed. Narmada water in Chitaliya is so erratic that villagers would noteven get supply once a week. After the trip to the deputy collector's office, water is being released once infive days. But the dalits say the main sump is still off-limits for them while the small one doesn't get adrop. The sump in the dailt area of Kothi village was never connected with the Narmada pipeline. "Ouronly source was a hand-pump which went dry last month,'' said Maniben Makwana, 65, a dalit. "We arelooking into complaints of discrimination. We have also directed the water resources department toconnect hand-pumps to the pipeline," deputy collector R H Gadhavi said. (Times of India 10/4/13)Dalit woman killed in Andhra Pradesh , incident assumes political overtones (2)Guntur: The incident in which a Dalit woman was killed after she was allegedly roughed up and pushedunder the wheels of a speeding truck at Tenali town by drunk miscreants, has now assumed political andcaste overtones. B Susheela, a 45-year-old housewife paid with her life on Monday night when she triedto rescue her teenaged daughter, who is a B Tech student, after seven drunken motor mechanics agedbelow 20 years attempted to molest her. Susheela's husband, a municipal school teacher B Babu Raohas alleged that the police control room which is about 300 metres from the scene of the tragedy, did notrespond to the commotion and that the police inspector with whom a complaint was lodged, played apartisan role. All the seven persons have been arrested. The incident occurred when Susheela and herdaughter were returning home after shopping at around 10 pm, when the seven men who had just comeout of a liquor bar owned by an affluent and upper caste Congress leader, began heckling them. Thehousewife shouted at them, which infuriated the seven men who allegedly roughed her up and pushedher under the wheels of a speeding truck, police said. Due to the public outcry after television newschannels reported the incident, Guntur's Superintendent of Police, initiated damage control measures bytransferring the case to the Deputy Superintendent of Police and arresting the liquor bar owner's sonNagaraju. When the incident took place, neighbours and passersby reportedly remained passivespectators and did not even bother to extricate the injured woman from under the wheels of the truck untilher husband arrived, though observers have attributed it to the fear of hoodlooms of the notorious liquorbar owner, who is also a Congress leader. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 11/4/13)


A love affair and economic boycott of Dalits (2)KRISHNAGIRI: Over 300 Dalit families of Deveerahalli Village, of Kudimenahalli Panchayat, in Krishnagiridistrict allege that they are being denied work by intermediate castes of the village and of six other nearbyvillages. The reason behind this, they say, is that a Dalit youth in their area had fallen in love with a girl ofan intermediate caste from Sathinayakkanpatti under Damodarahalli Panchayat. The girl is back with herparents after the youth’s parents wanted her to go back, as they feared the type of mob fury which wasunleashed on three colonies in nearby Dharmapuri district, over a similar issue in November last year.But, the boycott of the Dalits of the Krishnagiri village continues though the affair had come to light inDecember and the girl had gone back to her home. Intermediate castes have banned Dalits from workingon their agriculture fields, brick kilns and other income-earning activities since then. The decision to barthem from such forms of employment was allegedly taken by a ‘khap panchayat’ — a council of olderpersons who issue decrees to their community members on matters such as marriage — consisting of theleaders of seven villages, in and around Sathinayakkanpatti and Deevarahalli, on December 24 last year,alleged A. Manikandan, district convener of Naam Tamizhar Katchi. Many Dalits, who have also taken upthe lands of intermediate caste on lease, for cultivation of crops, lost lakhs of rupees due to the economicboycott. They were not allowed to step into the farm lands. M. Kumar (37), who is District president of HIVPositive Network, said, “After the incident in December, the neighbouring landowner refused to give waterfor irrigating my ragi crop, cultivated on half an acre. I was forced to buy water from another village andbring it by tractors to save my crop’’. S. Salamma (45) of Deveerapalli village says she has two youngsons to take care of. As her husband, a daily wage earner, has been rendered jobless because of theboycott, the family is totally dependent on the earnings from the Mahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) works and the free rice distributed through the publicdistribution system. M. Chitra (30), mother of two male children, said, “There is no discrimination at theMGNREGS worksite, but the intermediate castes stopped speaking to us after the order of the khappanchayat”. The decision taken at the khap panchayat allegedly ordered that Dalits should not beemployed under the MGNREGS also. But, it was rejected by the village panchayat president K.Murugesan. Himself a member of an intermediate caste, he told the village leaders that he could notindulge in discrimination as the head of a local body. The parents of the youth and the girl could not becontacted for their comments. X. Irudayaraj, District Secretary, Tamil Nadu Untouchability EradicationFront (TNUEF), and G. Sekar, District Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), added the policeand revenue authorities should take proper action against those indulging in the boycott of Dalits, whichdenied them livelihood. Stating that his inquiry found a boycott of the Dalits, Deputy Superintendent ofPolice, Bargur, G. Gajendran said, on Saturday, that he would conduct a meeting between the Dalits andcaste-Hindus in a day or two to resolve the issue. As for the love affair, Mr. Gajendran said that evenbefore a formal complaint was lodged by the girl’s family, a police team visited the village and took allpossible measures to prevent any untoward incident, and the girl returned to her parents. Collector T.P.Rajesh said that he would verify the factual position in the Dalit village and take appropriate action as perthe law. (The Hindu 14/4/13)‘Governments have failed to show commitment to work for Dalits’ (2)BANGALORE: The governments formed after Independence, both at the Centre and the State, have notshown political will or commitment to work for the welfare of Dalits, said Yashodha P., president,Karnataka Dalit Women Forum. She was speaking at the launch of a national-level claim petitioncampaign here on Sunday that coincided with the birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar. Ms. Yashodhapointed out that despite the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,atrocities continued to be committed against Dalits. Manohar Elavarthi, core committee member of thePraja Rajakiya Vedike, pointed out that none of the political parties were committed to work for the causeof the Dalits. Pointing out that the issue of land played a pivotal role in the emancipation of Dalits, shesaid, “Various laws such as the land ceiling Act to reduce disparities by redistribution of land were not


implemented properly leaving a large number of Dalits landless, displaced and marginalised.” To helpDalits reclaim such land, the National Alliance for Dalit Land Rights (NADLR) launched the campaign,which will be go on till December 6 in 18 States. The campaign, which will be spearheaded by theKarnataka Dalit Women Forum and other Dalit organisations, will be conducted in 20 districts in the State.The Dalit organisations have demanded 3 acres of irrigated land and 5 acres of dry land for Dalits.Besides, they have sought title deeds for Dalit households. They said they will urge the government to setup a tribunal to fast-track land disputes. (The Hindu 15/4/13)Dalits flee Haryana village after upper caste attacks (2)KAITHAL: As politicians and administrators in many northern <strong>Indian</strong> states were preparing to celebrateDalit icon B R Ambedkar's 122nd birth anniversary this weekend, more than 100 Dalits were fleeing asmall Haryana village after being chased by upper caste goons, angry that a Dalit man had dared tomarry one of their girls. Meena and Surya Kant of Pabnama village in Kaithal were in a relationship for thepast two years and they tied the knot on April 10. But their happiest moment in life turned tragic for theentire village. The marriage - with Meena, from a community called the Rods and Surya, a Dalit - led to abloody clash on Saturday that forced Dalit men and women to flee, fearing violent reprisals. Members ofthe Rod community attacked Dalits, injuring 10 people, including seven cops. The couple has been livingin a Kaithal town under police protection following instructions from the Punjab and Haryana high courtlast week. Even two days after the violence, Dalits are still in a state of shock and not ready to return tothe village. Except a few youths and elders, no women and children were present in the village. Severalhave gone to their relatives' places and a few are living in dharamshalas in Kurukshetra. Ram Swaroop, aDalit, said, "We agree that the marriage was against social norms. But why is the family of the groom andthe entire community being targeted as we have no role in their marriage?" He said it had become difficultfor their families to return to the village under the circumstances as they could be assaulted again.However, peace brokers were trying to calm things down. The two communities have formed separatecommittees to hold talks to sort out the differences and to restore peace in the village. Realizing that thecouple could not be separated, the villagers on Monday started compromise talks. Sarpanch Husan Singhtold TOI, "As the couple remained firm on their decision to stay together, the villagers, including theirfamily members, have left them to their fate. Members of both the communities held peace talks and I amhopeful that both would reach a compromise soon," he said. A villager, who had talked to the couple, saidboth of them ruled out any possibility of parting ways even though the Rods had been pressuring them tobreak off. During a meeting of village elders, 20-year-old Meena, a student of BCom final year in KaithalCollege, made it clear that "she would prefer to die rather than separating from her husband." Thesarpanch said it was impossible for the couple to enter the village as they did not abide by the sentimentsof the villagers. Recalling the violence on Saturday, he said, "Some youngsters have attacked Dalithouses in a fit of rage but the village elders have sorted out the issue now." However, a Dalit youth,Lakhmi Chand, alleged that there was pressure on the Dalits to strike a compromise and not to press forarrest of the attackers. "Both the communities have formed peace committees which met today to discussthe issue. The Rods are persuading us to withdraw the cases and assured that our security would beensured in the village. But we are still unsure and our women and children are still away," he said. KaithalSP Kuldeep Singh said the situation was under control on Monday and police personnel were deployed inthe village. "The villagers from both the communities are making efforts to sort out the issue. Theadministration is cooperating with them in this initiative," he said. (Times of India 16/4/13)Dalit woman thrashed: Ladhar records statements (2)Jalandhar: Jalandhar divisional commissioner SR Ladhar, conducting an re-inquiry into the Tarn Taranincident, in which a 22-year-old dalit woman was beaten up by the cops, visited the district on Thursday."I visited the spot and recorded the statements of three police men, two taxi drivers and othereyewitnesses," said Ladhar. The statements were recorded in the presence of the SSP and the deputy


commissioner. In their statement, the cops alleged that the cousin of the victim, Jagdish Singh, whorecorded the incident on his camera deleted the portion in which the victim and her relatives were seenmisbehaving with them, Ladhar said. "Expert opinion will be solicited to judge the veracity of this claim,"Ladhar added. The two taxi drivers, who have been booked under the SC/ST Act, denied making anyderogatory or casteist remarks against the victim or her family. Ladhar added that the then SSP, DC andSHO, would be called to his office on Monday for their version on the incident. (Hindustan Times 18/4/13)'Dalit youth was killed protecting sister' (2)BHIWANI: The 18-year-old dalit youth, whose body was recovered in a Bhiwani village on Wednesday,was killed for resisting advances towards her sister made by an upper-caste youth. Bhiwani policerevealed on Thursday that accused Praveen Singh, an upper-caste Rajput, and his accomplice KuldeepKumar, a dalit man, had tied the victim, Jaimal Kumar, to a tree and hit him with a vehicle till he died. Thishad happened on the outskirts of Devsar village in Bhiwani district on Tuesday evening, and the accusedwere arrested on Thursday. The victim's family had, however, complained to police on Wednesday thatJaimal was killed over the "ghurchari" row which took place in the village around two years ago. But copsinvestigating the killing said that Praveen Singh had made several advances towards Jaimal's sister. Thevictim opposed this and told the accused to stay away from the girl. According to sources, Praveen Singhhad been in touch with Jaimal's sister over phone. Police officers said that the accused and hisaccomplice took the victim to the village outskirts on Tuesday and they consumed liquor together. Soon,Jaimal lashed out at Praveen and an argument began. Cops said that the accused put a rope aroundJaimal's neck and tied him to a tree and hit him with a vehicle. They then dragged him to some distanceand crushed him under the wheels of the vehicle. The body was left inside the car which was abandonedalong the roadside, a police officer said. (Times of India 19/4/13)Torture of Dalit woman: Residents meet Police Commissioner (2)Ludhiana: Residents of Prem Nagar on Thursday met Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh and demandeda fair investigation into the beating up of a Dalit woman in Prem Nagar on April 3. The woman was beatenup publicly and an FIR was registered on April 16 after she produced a video grab before PoliceCommissioner Ishwar Singh. Three cops had been suspended on Wednesday by the Commissioner fornot acting on the complaint swiftly. However, the delegation on Thursday demanded that the SC/ST Actshould be dropped from the FIR because the residents said the woman was not a Dalit and was givingfalse statements. Ravinder Rawat, Roshan Singh and Amit Kumar, who were leading this delegation,said, “Last year, police had registered a case under immoral trafficking against the same woman. Thepolice should listen to the area residents as well and should take action against the woman too.” Theresidents submitted a memorandum to the Commissioner, who assured them that a special investigationteam (SIT) will look into all aspects and based on its report, due action would be taken. The residentsdemanded that SHO Jatinderjit Singh should be reinstated. While on Wednesday night, the residents hadblocked the National Highway 1 and had staged a dharna outside the office of ADCP Bhupinder SinghSidhu, they staged a dharna at Jagraon bridge after meeting the Commissioner on Thursday. (<strong>Indian</strong>Express 20/4/13)5 members of Dalit family attempt suicide (2)Chandigarh: In a gory tale, five members of a dalit family in Haryana attempted suicide to protest againstthe tardy investigation of rape of another 16-year old family member last year. Three members of thefamily have already died while two are battling with their lives in Rohtak. Nine-year old Rajesh Kumar,member of a Dalit family, who consumed poison along with his mother, father, one brother and one sisterin Bheri Akbarpur village of Uklana, 50km from district headquarters Hisar on April 22, died on Tuesday atPGIMS hospital at Rohtak. Rajesh's 38-year-old mother and his 12-year-old sister had died on Mondayeven as his father and 11-year old brother are still in a critical condition. B.S. Balan, S.P. Hisar told The


Pioneer that police had recorded the statement of Mahinder Partap Singh, father of Rajesh and a rapevictim girl who is still missing. "We have taken the statement of rape victim's father and started furtherinvestigation of the case", said Balan. Sources said the rape case is in a fast-track court at Hisar. But asthe victim girl is missing and her statement has not been recorded, the court has been postponing thematter for around four months. While the sixth hearing of the case is on April 30, police is yet to givestatus of the missing report filed on February 22. Under pressure for failing to locate the girl, the policehad quizzed her father repeatedly. A casual labourer, Mahinder Partap Singh, father of the rape victim inhis written statement had also blamed the local police and alleged that his 16-year-old daughter who hadreported rape in May last year was missing since many months. He said in his statement that the policekept pressing him to locate her and the family had been suffering humiliation at the hands of the villagerstoo.The father of the rape victim had said he wanted to kill only himself but when he discussed it with hisfamily, they wanted to do the same. Asked about the allegations of police pressure, SP Hisar said policeonly asked the family to tell the whereabouts of the girl as this was part of the investigation. Meanwhile,taking the tragic incident of an attempt of suicide by a 5-member family seriously, National Commissionfor Scheduled Castes (NCSC) sent a team to investigate the matter thoroughly. Dr. P.L. Punia, Chairmanof National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), said he was not satisfied with the enquiry andworking of local administration and the police at Hisar. "I want to know about the circumstances in whichaggrieved family (family of Dalit rape victim) had to take such an extreme step of suicide", said Punia. TheFIR regarding the rape of Dalit girl had been lodged on May 19 last year, two days after the girl had firstgone missing and then found at a nearby village. The rape accused, arrested a day after the FIR, remainsbehind bars, even as the girl went missing again in June, the report for which was lodged only thisFebruary. Haryana Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Minister, Geeta Bhukkal saidthat stern action would be taken against those found guilty. Condoling the death of three family members,Bhukkal said that such incidents are a matter of concern for the humanity. An inquiry has already beenordered in this case of rape of a girl who went missing. (Pioneer 24/4/13)Dalit woman gang raped, 3 arrested (2)AURANGABAD: A 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang raped on Tuesday night after beingabducted while waiting for public transport in front of Dhoot hospital on Jalna road. Three men have beenarrested, while another is absconding. The arrested men are Sangharsh Bhausaheb Landge, SagarBaban Dalvi and Vinod Salve, while the absconding accused has been indentified as Manoj RamlalJadhav. The woman, married eight months ago, had come to her parents' house at Sanjaynagar inMukunwadi on April 14 and was returning to her in-laws' house in Masnatwadi, when she was allegedlyabducted and gang raped. (Times of India 25/4/13)Fact-Finding Team Presents Its Report On Caste Violence In Pabnava Village In Haryana (2)Violence erupted in Pabnava village in Haryana when Surya Kant (21), the son of a daily-wage labourer,Mahendra Pal of the Chamar (Dalit) community, eloped with Meena (21), daughter of Pirthi Singh fromthe upper caste Ror community. They registered their marriage in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana,and sought police protection on 9 April <strong>2013</strong>. When Pirthi Singh came to know of the marriage, he wasinfuriated and asked Mahendra Pal to come to his house and threatened him with dire consequences ifSurya Kant refused to divorce Meena. However, Singh failed to persuade his son to divorce Meena. AfterSurya and Meena’s request for protection, the Punjab police put up them in a protection home at Kaithal.However, news got around and their village members got to know of their marriage and whereabouts on12 April. The Ror community called for a panchayat session the next day which declared the marriageillegal and pressurised Surya’s family to initiate the divorce procedures immediately. Meena’s family alsotried to persuade her to leave Surya but failed to do so. On the evening of 13 April, Sultan Singh aliasHanda, accompanied by three men from the Ror community, went to the Dalit basti. They abused thevillagers and threatened to kidnap girls from the community. Fearing violence, the Dalits immediately


informed Taken Raj, District Superintendent of Police (DSP), but he refused to meet them. The Dalitsthen approached Kuldeep Singh, the SP of Kaithal, and got Sultan Singh arrested. They also deployed10-15 police personnel for the villagers’ protection. Despite that, nearly 200 families fled the village soonafterwards. But soon after, around 400 members of the Ror community attacked the Dalit basti. Theydamaged property and also looted cash and valuables. In the attack, six Dalits were also injured. Whenthe police tried to help the villagers, they too were attacked. The government announced compensation ofRs 1,20,000 per head for the seriously injured. The police has since arrested 24 of the 52 accused.Himanshu Kumar, a member of the fact-finding team, termed this incident as the culmination of the deeprootedcaste prejudice and hatred. He elaborated on the change in dynamics of the socio-economicrelationship between the communities since the Dalits are now relatively more empowered througheducation. He recalled an incident where a landlord belonging to the Ror community labeled some formerdaily wage workers as thugs and said that they did not have any right to continue living in the village. Thisbecause they found themselves better jobs away from the menial daily-wage work they previously did.The team consisted of Himanshu Kumar, Ratnesh Kumar, Utpala Shukla and Abirami, among others. Theteam recommended that the Ror community be penalised with being made to pay fines to create acollective fund which would be used to rebuild the houses of the Dalits and provide adequatecompensation for the loss of their property. The team also suggested that the Ror community be chargedwith Sec 16 of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989, and that all the accused be arrested. SwamiAgnivesh urged the government to encourage inter-caste marriages to break caste-based prejudices. Healso said he would organise an inter-caste marriage convention in Kurukshetra in a few months. RatneshKumar said that an environment of insecurity still prevails and women continue to live away from thevillage. (Tehelka 26/4/13)No discrimination against dalits: Sushil Kumar Modi (2)PATNA: The BJP on Friday said it does not discriminate between dalits and mahadalits and thegovernment's Rs 561 crore welfare schemes were for every section of dalit community. Bihar deputy CMSushil Kumar Modi said this while addressing a programme organized by the state BJP to commemoratethe memory of Baba Chauharmal, a religious and spiritual leader of Paswans and Dusadhs, at RabindraBhavan here. These two sections of dalits have been excluded from the purview of mahadalits. Modi saidhe had asked all the departments to reserve 16% of their budget for the welfare of dalits as theyconstituted 16% of the state's population. It may be recalled here that in his speeches, Bihar CM NitishKumar has been claiming his government has launched exclusive schemes for the development ofmahadalits. A separate Mahadalit Commission, too, has been set up in addition to the state scheduledcastes commission. Modi said, as finance minister he had provided scholarships to all dalit children, andthe scheme would benefit 40 lakh children, including mahadalits. Special schemes for skill development,education and healthcare of the entire dalit community, without any discrimination, have been launched,he said and claimed it was part of his scheme of inclusive growth. He said, "There will be nodiscrimination against the Paswans, who have been excluded from the list of mahadalits." He announcedcompensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the members of scheduled castes and tribes who get killed inclashes in villages. The SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act has been enforced effectively in Bihar, heclaimed. Former Union minister and chairman of the BJP's SC cell Sanjay Paswan, without naming theLok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, said Paswans should be wary of the "fake messiahs" oftheir caste who are interested in the welfare of their families only. Bihar NDA convener Nand KishoreYadav recalled that his party had fielded 10 members of the Paswan community in the last assemblypolls, of which nine romped home. No other party had given tickets to so many Paswan communitymembers, he said. (Times of India 27/4/13)‘Preventive’ notice against Dalits irks activists (2)


Mangalore: The issuance of notices asking six Dalits to sign a Rs. 5,000 bond that they would not createtrouble during the elections, has left Dalit activists fuming. The issue came up during the monthlySchedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe meeting held at the Mangalore City Police Commissioner’s officeon Sunday. Activist Ashok Konchady said he and five others, including two women, have been sent thisnotice by the Tahsildar, acting on the report of the Kavoor police, under the Section 107 of the CriminalProcedure Code. According to Mr. Konchady, the cases mentioned in the notice pertain to a dispute overroad widening in May 2012, when the citizen’s association in Konchady – consisting predominantly ofDalit members – and the encroachers of the road, backed by Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers,got into a scuffle. The tense atmosphere had prevailed for a few months, in which time, cases andcounter cases were filed by both parties. However, during the meeting, Mr. Konchady claimed that of thesix names in the list, three were not involved in the dispute. “While one person was not even in the Statewhen the incident happened, the names of two women have been unfairly added. Cases had been filedagainst their husbands and not them. Why drag them into this? They are being treated as criminals in thearea,” he claimed, adding that the bond was something the daily-wage labourers could not afford to pay.Manish Karbikar, Police Commissioner, said the Tahsildar had taken this action based on police report,and this was only a preventive action before the election. Dalit activist P. Keshava submitted amemorandum to Mr. Karbikar urging him to book politicians and party workers offering liquor or money inDalit colonies under The Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. (The Hindu29/4/13)Half of India’s dalit population lives in 4 states (2)CHENNAI: Four states account for nearly half of the country's dalit population, reveals the 2011 census.Uttar Pradesh stands first with 20.5% of the total scheduled caste (SC) population, followed by WestBengal with 10.7%, says the data released by the Union census directorate on Tuesday. Bihar with 8.2%and Tamil Nadu with 7.2 % come third and fourth. Dalits form around 16.6% of India's population. The2011 census recorded nearly 20.14 crore people belonging to various scheduled castes in the country. Asper the 2001 census, the number was 16.66 crore. The dalit population showed a decadal growth of20.8%, whereas India's population grew 17.7% during the same period. "Though there is an increase inthe population of dalits in the country, many states with a considerable number of dalits don't have anylegislation to protect the interests of the community. Dalit empowerment is very poor in many states," saidformer Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) MLA D Ravikumar. Many scheduled caste families don't ownland or any other property, said Ravikumar. "Many dalits are landless and efforts to empower them bygiving free land have not been successful in Tamil Nadu. Unlike Punjab, which has a considerablenumber of dalits as industrialists, here there is hardly any industrialist from our community," the leader ofthe dalit party said. There are around 9.79 crore women among the total SC population, and the sex ratioworks out to 946 females per 1000 males. Nagaland, Lakshwadeep and Andaman and Nicobar islandshave no scheduled castes among their population. Though UP has the largest chunk of the total SCpopulation, Punjab has the largest share of dalits in its population at 31.9%. Himachal Pradesh and WestBengal follow Punjab with 25.2% and 23.5%. In Tamil Nadu, dalits account for about 18% of thepopulation. The state budget should also allocate funds for creation of assets for dalits, said Ravikumar."Instead of distributing freebies, the state governments can set aside a portion of the total allocation fordalits. In many cases, funds are being diverted and dalits lose whatever is due to them," he said. Thestates with considerable number of dalits in their population must pass a separate legislation on the linesof Andhra Pradesh, which has passed the SC/ST Sub Plan Act, said a dalit activist. (Times of India2/5/13)Dalit woman burned alive for resisting rape (2)


BIKANER: In a barbaric act, a man allegedly burned alive a 28-year old married woman from the dalitcommunity, after she resisted a rape attempt in Hanumangarh's Nohar area late on Friday night. Thewoman was rushed to a hospital where she died on Saturday. In a bid to save her, the husband who wassleeping at his nearby-situated agriculture farm also sustained serious burn injuries and is undergoingtreatment. The police have rounded up the accused, who is a farmer. SHO, Nohar police station AntarSingh said the victim was sleeping inside her house along with her four-year-old daughter while herhusband and brother-in-law were protecting crop at their farm. "Jitendra Singh Rajput alias Jitu who isalso a farmer from the same village, sneaked into the victim's house and pounced on the victim. Caughtunaware, she woke up and started screaming," said the officer. The officer said as per the FIR registeredwith the police, Jitu sprinkled kerosene on her which he brought along with him and set her on fire. "Hewas apparently irked over the resistance. Hearing the screams, the woman's husband and his brotherrushed to the spot to find her burning. Jitu had escaped by then," said the officer. The woman hadsustained over 70% burns by then, her husband and brother-in-law managed to douse the fire. SP,Hanumangarh Kunwar Rashtradeep told TOI the cops rushed to the spot immediately after they wereinformed, The victim was rushed to a hospital. The SP Rashtradeep said the victim's statement wasrecorded in the presence of a magistrate. She died around 10am on Saturday. Police said that thehusband's condition is also serious. "His hands and some other body parts sustained burns. He is alsoadmitted to the Hospital. He is, however, out of danger," said the %officer. CO, Nohar Kishori Lal, toldTOI following the victim's husband, police registered a case under sections 302, 450, 376, 511 and 307 ofIPC and section 3 of SC/ST. (Times of India 5/5/13)Dalit houses attacked, 4 hurt (2)CHANDIGARH: Four people were injured when a Jat community mob attacked dalit houses in Dalit Bastiat Mangalpur villagein Jind district on Saturday night. Following the incident tension gripped the area andJind deputy commissioner M L Kaushik and SP Balwant Singh Rana are camping in the village. A specialpolice post has been set up to guard around 1000 dalits living in the village. The incident was triggered bythe Jat youths when they caught and beat up one Shamsher Singh, a mentally challenged youth allegingthat he is a tractor thief. Police have started the investigation after registering a case of rioting against twodozen persons following a complaint by Shamsher's sister Premo Devi whose house was attacked by themob. In her complaint, Premo Devi said her brother had strayed into the fields of Gaje Singh and Sonu onSaturday night. "They caught and beat my brother. After thrashing Shamsher, they attacked our houseand other houses in the dalit basti,'' she said. The SP said the situation is under control and therepresentatives of both the communities have resolved to maintain peace in the village. "We haverounded up four persons and they are being questioned. At the same time police teams have beenconstituted to nab the other accused,'' he said. (Times of India 6/5/13)Pabnawa Dalit families get financial aid, start returning home (2)Chandigarh: Dalit families, which were forced to leave Pabnawa village in Haryana's Kaithal district afterallegedly being attacked by the members of upper caste Ror community last month, have startedreturning to their homes. Over 200 families had left their homes, when a boy from their community hadeloped with a Ror and got married. Taking cognizance of the incident, the Haryana government hadannounced a monetary compensation to the affected families. Kaithal Deputy Commissioner ChanderShekhar on Wednesday gave away cheques worth Rs 79.50 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund asfinancial assistance to 282 families. While Rs 38 lakh was given towards providing 10 quintals of wheateach to the 282 Dalit families, each family was handed over a cheque of Rs 5,000 for dry fodder. Amongthe affected families, 80 families were given financial assistance of Rs 21,000 each. Two families of KaliRam and Chandgi Ram were provided financial assistance of Rs 51,000 and Rs 41,000 respectively. Thecommunity has also suffered a loss of five motorcycles and to compensate this, some villagers weregiven cheques of Rs 10,000 each. Another resident, Hukam Chand, was given a cheque of Rs 15,000 in


order to compensate the loss caused to his three-wheeler. Shops of six Dalits had also suffered damagein the clash. They were given cheque of Rs 1 lakh each for renovating their shops. Similarly, threevillagers, who had suffered injuries during the incident, were given cheques of Rs 1 lakh each. (<strong>Indian</strong>Express 9/5/13)4 UP Dalits, missing for a week, found murdered (2)Lucknow: Four Dalit farmers, who were missing since April 30, were found murdered in Asmauli policestation area of Sambhal district on Wednesday. The bodies were found buried in two trenches in a field.The bodies bore injury marks caused by sticks. The postmortem report is awaited to ascertain the exactreason of death, said Moradabad Range DIG Amrendra Kumar Sengar. The victims were identified asVijay Singh (43), his brothers Suraj (35) and Jasveer (30) and their neighbour Manoj (29) — residents ofGammanpura village in Moradabad district bordering Sambhal. The Moradabad police arrested threepersons, including a history-sheeter, Anees, of Sambhal district. The police said that bodies wererecovered following the interrogation of Anees, who is the prime accused in the case. Others arrested inthe case are Afsar and Vijay Singh Jatav, who was released from jail in a criminal case on April 28. Thepolice said that a hunt is on to trace four other associates of Anees who were involved in the crime. OnWednesday, the victims' family members and locals blocked the Moradabad-Delhi highway for more thaneight hours demanding compensation. The situation came under control after senior officials reached thespot and conveyed the state government's decision to give ex-gratia of Rs 13 lakh to the kin of each ofthe deceased. Earlier, on Monday, a three-member team of the National Commission for ScheduledCastes visited the families of the victims, and held meeting with the police and administrative officials ofMoradabad and Sambhal. On Wednesday, Commission's chairman P L Punia met the families of thevictims. The police said that the murders were a fallout of an incident that took place on April 17 atGammanpura where the victims and other locals had beaten up Anees after he misbehaved with awidow. Sengar said Anees has 17 criminal cases against him. Station Officer, Pakwada police station, DP Pundheer said that Anees confessed to the crime during questioning and said that he, along with sixothers, had murdered the farmers to avenge the attack on him. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 9/5/13)CPI express concern over rising crime against dalits and women (2)Lucknow: Communist Party of India (CPI) state secretariat on Thursday expressing deep concern overrising incidents of crime against dalit and women demanded Akhilesh Yadav government to put check ondetoriating law and order. CPI state secretary Dr. Girish stressing on incident in which four dalitsconsequently being kidnapped at Moradabad were killed and buried by criminals while the policeremained clue less for seven days, said, every day about a dozen women and girls are raped in UP andmany of them are even killed. Such a heinous crimes taking place frequently should be matter of shamefor any government. Alleging Samajwadi party government have unilaterally organised administrative setup as it could serve interests of the party in upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the CPI leader said, owing topoliticisation of administration, fearless criminals were targeting weaker sections including dalit andwomen. Demanding state government to take strict measures aimed at controlling the crime, he said, thechief minister should also stop SP leaders from intervening with administration. Meanwhile an inquiryteam of CPI (Marxist-Leninist) office bearers is visiting Moradabad on Friday to meet families of four dalitfarmers murdered last week. Demanding Rs 25 lakh compensation to aggrieved family members, the MLstate secretary Sudhakar Yadav said, under pressure of ruling party leaders police remained lax inMoradabad which led to murder of dalit farmers. (Pioneer 10/5/13)Dalit minor raped, set on fire in MP (2)BHOPAL: A 13-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly abducted, raped and then set on fire by the accused inMandsaur district of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday night. The victim has sustained 80 per cent burninjuries and is said to be in a critical condition. The incident took place at Kachariya-daloda village -


around 46 km from district headquarters - where the girl was abducted by one J P Singh, 20, while shewas going to attend nature's call. The accused took her to a desolate place and raped her. He doused herwith kerosene and torched her fearing a police complaint, said sources. She was spotted by some of thelocal villagers who rushed her to district hospital. In her statement she told police that she was raped andthen set afire. A case of rape and attempt to murder has been registered against the accused. (Times ofIndia 11/5/13)Siddaramaiah seeks support of Dalit for effective administration (2)MYSORE/CHAMRAJNAGAR: CM-designate Siddaramaiah on Sunday sought to reach out to Dalitcommunity, which is angry that his elevation has denied their leader Mallikarjuna Kharge the CM's post."Naanu Dalitane (I'm also a Dalit)," he said when asked about protests by Dalit activists in parts ofKarnataka, including Kharge's home district Gulburga and Mysore and Chamarajnagar districts. It is truethat Kharge should have become the CM long back. This time the high command has tasked me with theCM's job. Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi have picked me up andasked me to shoulder the responsibility. I'm also a Dalit having come from backward class, he saidseeking cooperation of Dalit community. He said he will ensure social justice during his rule and appealedto the community to support him. The CM made an unscheduled visit to Dalit litterateur DevanuraMahadeva at his Kuvempunagar residence and spent with him for 30 minutes. This comes on a day whenNanjangud observed bandh against the Congress leaders for not nominating a Dalit as the CM.Significantly, Nanjangud taluk forms part of Siddaramaiah's Varuna constituency. The temple town shutdown a day after Dalit leaders held a rally against the Congress decision. The City Congress office isransacked by a group of 15-20 people who were upset that Kharge is not named the CM. The youths,who entered the Congress office located on the first floor in Devaraja Market, shouted slogans against theCongress leader and ransacked the office. They later left the spot. When contacted, the City Congresschief C Dase Gowda said they are not sure who the protestors were. "Our staff were not present at thetime and had gone downstairs. It all happened in a couple of minutes. The damage is minor." He said hewas on his way to Bangalore when the cops called him to inform about the incident. When I asked ourstaff at the office, they said they were youths. We've not filed any police complaint, he stated. Meanwhile,Chamarajanagar unit of DSS asked the Congress leadership to divide the five year equally and elevateKharge as the CM after 30 months. DSS convenor Alur Nagendra said Dalit MLAs should make such ademand too. Siddaramaiah is a leader from the backward classes. We want Kharge to be made the CMafter 30 months, he stated. (Times of India 12/5/13)Dalit woman attacked for drawing water from handpump (2)MADHUBANI: A dalit woman was injured when a man attacked her with a sharp weapon today fordrawing water from a handpump in a village in Bihar's Madhubani district, police said. Mantorami Devi(33)was attacked by Marhu Yadav who was infuriated with her for drawing water from a public handpump atJhauwa village. The woman was injured in both her hands when she tried to fend him off, police said,adding she was rushed to the local primary health centre which referred her to Darbhanga MedicalCollege and Hospital (DMCH). The attacker is absconding and raids are on to nab him, police said.(Times of India 13/5/13)No end to caste violence in Pabnawa village, two more Dalits attacked again (2)Kaithal: Just when the elders from both Dalit and Ror communities were deliberating on putting an end tocaste tension at Pabnawa village, a group of youths from the dominating community allegedly attackedand injured two Dalits on late Tuesday night. One of the injured Ram Mehar, 23, was admitted to theadvance trauma centre of Post Graduate <strong>Institute</strong> of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER),Chandigarh, in a serious condition. Sunil, another Dalit, also sustained injuries and is undergoingtreatment at the local civil hospital. Agitated over the incident, a large number of Dalits, including women


gathered at the mini secretariat on Wednesday and demanded action against the accused. Deputysuperintendent of police (DSP) Surinder Bhoria, however, assured that the accused would be arrestedwithin 24-hours. Meanwhile, the authorities have deployed additional police force in the village to avoidany untoward incident. Earlier, members of Ror community had attacked and ransacked the Dalit basti onApril 13, after a Dalit boy, Surya Kant (26), married Meena (21), of the Ror community on May 8. Soagitated were they that apart from attacking and ransacking several houses and shops they evenattacked a police party that had come to maintain order in the village. So far, the police have arrested 33members of the Ror community for attacking Dalits. The couple, now under police protection, hails fromPabnawa village. Public works department minister Randeep Singh Surjewala had tried to mediate byurging the communities to ensure peace in village. Following the Tuesday night's incident. Dalits are up inarms. Rajiv, a Dalit youth from the village, said that the community felt cheated and threatened, asdespite assurances, a section of Ror community members were still attacking them. Terming the Tuesdaynight's incident unfortunate, Husan Singh, sarpanch and a Ror leader told HT that certain unsocialelements of the community were responsible for the act. "The village is fed up with such anti-communityactivities and we unanimously demand for the arrest of these irresponsible youths. We will not allow themto harm the social fabric of the village anymore," the sarpanch said. (Times of India 15/5/13)Dalits denied Narmada water: Plaint reaches NHRC (2)RAJKOT: Based on a TOI report, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has admitted acomplaint about dalits not being given access to Narmada water in villages of Jasdan taluka of Rajkot.TOI had reported on April 10 how upper caste farmers, who have their own borewells and don't needNarmada water as much, don't let the dalits use this crucial resource. The complaint was accepted afterdalit rights activist Kirit Rathod wrote to NHRC. "I wrote to NHRC about discrimination on the basis ofTOI's report. I am hoping it will issue some directions to the government in the near future," said Rathod.TOI had visited Chitaliya and Kothi villages and found that water sumps in dalit areas were not being filledby Narmada water. The sumps constructed for supplying drinking water to dalits under a special planwere not connected to Narmada water pipelines either. The dalits in ten villages of Jasdan hadcomplained that they were not even allowed to draw water from the main sump and would be threatenedif they got anywhere close to it. Many of the women have to walk at least three km to get drinking waterfor their families. The worst affected are villages of Chitaliya, Khadvavadi, Kanesara, Parevala, Jivapar,Nani Lakhavad, Kothi, Barvala and Devdhari. There are around 100 dalit families in each villagedominated by Kolis. Unable to bear both injustice and thirst, women from these villages had approachedthe deputy collector with their tale of woes. The sump in the dalit area of Kothi village was neverconnected with the Narmada pipeline. Local officials had told TOI that they were looking into complaintsof discrimination and had directed the water resources department to connect hand-pumps to thepipeline. (Times of India 16/5/13)Dalit stabbed in Pabnama, upper caste youth arrested (2)CHANDIGARH: Even as the fumes over the caste violence in Kaithal's Pabnama village are yet to getdoused, a cousin of Surya Kant, a dalit whose marriage with an upper caste girl had triggered an attackon the entire dalit community, was allegedly stabbed by upper caste youths on Tuesday night. A badlyhurt Ram Mehar, 22, cousin of Surya Kant, was referred to PGIMER in Chandigarh. Ram Mehar's friendSunil, who also suffered injuries in the incident, has also been hospitalized. Police have registered a caseand arrested the accused youth, identified as Ravi. They have also added various sections of SC/ST Actagainst the accused. As per the police complaint, the incident took place on Tuesday afternoon whenRam Mehar and Sunil were returning home. "We were just 100 meters away from our houses, when Ravi,along with other youths of his community, came and attacked us with canes and other sharp edgedweapons. We both fell unconscious and I gained consciousness in Kaithal hospital," Sunil stated in thecomplaint. "Except for last month's violence after Surya Kant's marriage with a girl from Ror community,


we did not have any enmity with anybody in the village," the complaint said. Meanwhile, fearing anotherround of violence, dalit families on Wednesday approached Kaithal deputy commissioner ChanderShekhar and sought action against the accused and demanded setting up of a permanent police post inPabnama village. "We have arrested Ravi, who belongs to Ror community, in an attempt to murder caseregistered against him at Dhand police station," said Kaithal SP Kuldeep Singh. "Ram Mehar is not in aposition to give his statement. So we are not sure if the case is related to the earlier incidence of violencein the village," he added. Last month, nine persons, including seven cops, were injured after youths fromRor community attacked dalit houses as Surya Kant had married a girl of their community, resulting inexodus by 100 dalit families from the village. (Times of India 17/5/13)Death of dalit woman: Police to file report today (2)KOCHI/TRIPUNITHURA: The city police, probing the circumstances that led to the suicide of a dalitwoman following alleged police harassment, will submit its report to city police commissioner K G Jameson Monday. The commissioner will initiate punitive action against the police personnel involved in theincident after studying the report, said a police official. Thrikakkara assistant commissioner Bijo Alexandersaid Tripunithura circle inspector had taken statements from the relatives of the victim and cops who tookthe victim into custody from her house. "Based on these statements, the inspector is preparing a detailedreport," said Alexander. Meanwhile, political parties and various others organizations have launchedprotest campaigns in Tripunithura demanding action against the police personnel who were involved inthe alleged harassment of the women identified as Sunitha of Mathur colony. Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabhahas decided to lodge complaints to chief minister Oommen Chandy and home minister ThiruvanchoorRadhakrishnan seeking stringent action against culprits. On Friday, 32-year-old housewife Sunithacommitted suicide after she was allegedly harassed by a group of police personnel at Hill Palace policestation. She ended her life by jumping in front of a speeding train near the Mathur colony level cross.Sources said the dalit woman was allegedly harassed by a few policemen at the station after her husbandBabu was booked in connection with a case. (Times of India 20/5/13)11 held, 3 surrender for attack on Dalits (2)MADURAI: Eleven members of an intermediate caste were arrested, while three others surrenderedbefore the Nanguneri Judicial Magistrate Court, in connection with the attack on Dalit women andincidents of arson in Tirunelveli district in early May. The Thirukkurunkudi village at Thenkarai inNanguneri taluk, inhabited by Dalits, was attacked on May 8 by 50 armed men from the intermediatecaste, as a backlash to a funeral procession taken out by Dalits bearing the body of Kumari (a)Thavamani, who died the previous day. The procession, taken out under police protection, traversed apublic pathway at Nambithalaivanpattaiyam, dominated by members of the intermediate castes, to reachthe cremation ground at Avaramthalai. Twenty five Dalit houses were damaged, a few vehicles torchedand five women injured in the attack. About 300 Dalits occupy 80 houses in the village. Followingcomplaints lodged by the Dalits, the Thirukurunkudi police filed cases under Sections 147, 148, 294(b),324 and 506(2) of the <strong>Indian</strong> Penal Code and under Section 3(1)(10) of the Scheduled Castes/ScheduledTribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989. The police also filed a case against the Dalits under Sections294(b), 323, 354 and 427 of the IPC based on a counter-complaint from the intermediate caste members.The Dalits submitted a petition to the District Collector on May 13, demanding action against the peopleinvolved in the attack and seeking police protection. A similar flare-up occurred on December 29, 2012,when a Dalit funeral procession following the death of a woman, Chellammal, drew violence fromintermediate caste members. Evidence, a Madurai-based non-governmental organisation, visitedThirukkurunkudi village on May 16. The NGO submitted a report to the government demanding the arrestof those involved in the attack under Sections 3(1) (11), 3(2) (3) of the the Scheduled Castes/ScheduledTribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989. Their other demands included Rs.2 lakh compensation for theaffected Dalits and reconstruction of the damaged houses. The government should also identify the


villages across the state where this form of untouchability existed and take stringent action, theydemanded. (The Hindu 21/5/13)3,125 dalit students in Ahmedabad yet to get scholarships (2)AHMEDABAD: As many as 3,125 dalit students in Ahmedabad district did not receive their scholarshipamount from the state government. The facts came to the fore through an RTI filed by Navsarjan Trust inJuly 2010. Approximately Rs 3 crore have been siphoned from the money meant for the dalit students.These allegations were made by Kirit Rathod of Navsarjan Trust on Thursday. According to theinformation received through RTI, scholarship applications of 1,613 students are still pending. The other1,512 students were denied the scholarship due to lack of funds in the institute. The data in the RTIcomprises only of ITI, science, arts, engineering and medical colleges. The information commission failedto provide the information for the dalit kids studying in schools. "This is the data of one district and only ofcolleges; the scam could run into crores if the data from all districts are collected," said Kirit Rathod,program director, Navsarjan. He added, "Our CM makes big promises about spending money forscheduled castes, if it's true then why these students didn't get their due." According to the rules laid bythe Planning Commission, every state has to allocate a certain amount of budget for the welfare of thedalits based on their population. In Gujarat, dalits constitute 7.9% of the total population, but the moneyallocated for them in this year's budget is only 5.9%."Not only the government is cheating dalits, it was noteven ready to reveal the information regarding the scholarship," said Rathod. The first RTI was filed inMay 2010; after it was rejected by department of social justice, Rathod filed second RTI in July 2010,which was accepted. After the intervention of state information commissioner Balwant Singh and a wait ofalmost three years, the department gave half-baked information. The RTI reply by government has nomention of students and amount of scholarships allocated. "In the full page ad on Ambedkar Jayanti, Modimade big claims about the welfare of scheduled castes, but it's all a farce," said Rathod. (Times of India24/5/13)Caste stigma: Dalit groom rides on horseback under police protection (2)Bundi (Rajasthan): Police escorted the marriage procession of a 24-year-old Dalit bridegroom, who wasnot allowed to ride on a horseback by Gujjar community members in Barwas village. According to thepolice, bridegroom Ramesh, belonging to Meghwal community which is categorized under ScheduledCaste, was supposed to wed in Deoli town of Tonk district yesterday. When Ramesh was riding on ahorseback during his marriage procession in Barwas village of Hindoli sub-division on Friday night, hewas stopped by some Gujjar community members. The community members believe that it is anexclusive right of upper castes to ride a horse during wedding procession. On a complaint of Ramesh'sfather Udailal Meghwal, a case against two dozen Gujjar community members was registered yesterdayunder various sections of the IPC and the SC-ST Act, however, no one has been arrested so far in thisconnection, Station House Officer (SHO), Hindoli police station, Sheeshram Meena said. The case hasbeen lodged against Kanhaya Gurjar, Laxman Gujar, Kalu Gujar, Narayan Gujar and about 15 others ofthe same village, the SHO said, adding, raids are being conducted to nab them at suspected locations.(<strong>Indian</strong> Express 26/5/13)Dalit headmistress alleges caste discrimination (2)Mangalore: A Dalit headmistress in a government school, who claimed to have been harassed by uppercasteteachers on the basis of caste, alleged that the police inaction led to the case being closed due to“lack of evidence”. Airing her grievance at the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes meet held at thePolice Commissioner’s office here on Sunday, Kamalakshi, who is the headmistress of GovernmentHigher Primary School in Panelabarike near Konaje, said there was discrimination and harassment by aBrahmin couple, who teach at the school. “They have shouted swear words at me several times. They donot cooperate in the decisions I take. They have even said that because the government gives us Dalits


so many schemes and provisions that we have become arrogant. The two have also pressured theSDMC (School Development and Monitoring Committee) to expel me, so they could drive me out of thevillage,” she claimed. Though she has been working in the school for six years, the harassment startedafter the husband-wife duo joined the school in 2011. After entreaties to the Block Education Officer wentin vain, Ms. Kamalakshi filed a complaint against the two at the Konaje Police Station on February 22.However, a week ago, the police eventually filed a B-report in the case. “How can there be no evidencewhen the SDMC can testify to the insults and threats?” she asked Police Commissioner Manish Kharbikarwho chaired the meet. Though Mr. Kharbikar said there “could be no wrongdoing” on the part of the policein closing the case, he assured the headmistress that the case would be looked into again. Anotherallegation of the police bucking to bribes and pressures from influential persons came from Dalit leaderSrinivas Shetty, who said the Bajpe police had done little to arrest the main accused in a reportedly illegalsand-mining case. The accused, who is the president of the Gram Panchayat Chandrahas Shetty, isalleged to have abused fellow member Hariyappa Muthoor, who is Dalit, for having opposed the sandmining. “Chandrahas Shetty used foul language and even threatened to kill Hariyappa. We filed acomplaint with the police on May 18, and an atrocities case was filed. But there have been no arrests. Infact, we hear that the police are in constant touch with the accused,” said Mr. Srinivas Shetty. Mr.Kharbikar assured a “detailed probe” into the matter. (The Hindu 27/5/13)Two held on charge of sodomising Dalit in Karnal (2)Karnal: In a statement issued by the superintendent of police office on Tuesday evening, a man allegedthat Lakhwinder Singh (41) and Vijay had sexually assaulted his 15-year-old son. The crime allegedlyoccurred in the city police station area at a house. The accused were arrested under the Prevention ofChildren from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention ofAtrocity) Act. Meanwhile, the court sent the accused to jail. (Hindustan Times 28/5/13)Dalit body alleges discrimination (2)AHMEDABAD: A dalit activists' group, Navsarjan Trust, has highlighted several instances ofdiscrimination against dalits in villages surrounding Ahmedabad, especially at water sources - like wells,hand pumps and even common village water sumps and ponds. Talukas like the upcoming Detroit ofIndia, Sanand; Dholka; Bavla Dhandhuka; and Viramgam have registered several cases of suchdiscrimination. The trust represented its case before Ahmedabad collector Roopwant Singh on Saturday.There are instances in villages of separate underground water sumps being constructed for dalitsettlements which are yet to receive Narmada waters while an OBC community settlement has directconnection to Narmada. "There were community wells from which dalits were not allowed to draw waterand in some cases water drawn from borewells was not shared with dalit communities," says Kirit Rathodof Navsarjan trust. "In other instances, dalit women were prevented from washing clothes in commonponds." In one village in Dholka every community has a different well," Rathod says. "The collector hasassured us that a committee will look into the cases of discrimination in these villages immediately," saysRathod. The problems have been cited in villages like Dholi, Arjan, Jawaraj, Burkhi, Utelia, Sagarwada,Koth, Pissawada, Dehgamda, Bagodara, and Bhamsara in Bavla taluka. In Dhandhuka taluka, the trusthas cited cases of discrimination in Kasindra, Kangasar, Fatehpur, Chaasiana and Bajarda. In Sanandtaluka, dalits in Lodarial , Leelapur, and Sari Matoda villages have aired their grievances regarding theiraccess to water sources. In all, close to 1,200 dalits in 22 villages in the Ahmedabad district have beensaid to be the victims of discrimination. (Times of India 2/6/13)Man held for burning dalit youth to death (2)AHMEDABAD: A man was arrested for allegedly murdering a dalit youth by setting him on fire in Gujarat'sSurendranagar district, police said today. Jaydeepsinh Parmar was held on Friday based on the dying


declaration given by the victim, Chatur Solanki, before a magistrate, they said. The incident occurred onFriday at the house of Solanki in Muli taluka area, police said. According to police, Solanki said Parmarand his three friends, all belonging to an upper caste, entered his house and set him on fire. However, hedid not assign any motive behind the attack. A senior district police official, however, said there werecontradictions in the victim's declarations made before the doctor and the magistrate. The victim told thedoctor that he sustained burns in fire that started accidentally from a kerosene can due to electric spark athis house. However, Solanki told the magistrate that Parmar and his three friends set him on fire. Theofficer refused to comment on what prompted Solanki to give contradictory statements, saying the matteris under investigation. Parmar and three others were booked under section 302 (punishment for murder)of <strong>Indian</strong> Penal Code and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Policesaid Parmar's three friends have not been arrested so far. (Times of India 3/6/13)Tension in Niwai after dalit’s baraat prevented (2)JAIPUR: Tension prevailed at a village in Tonk's Niwai area on Sunday night when people tried to preventthe wedding procession of a Dalit groom from passing through their area. The wedding procession wastaken out under police protection. However, it was alleged that the groom could not ride on the horsebackand wedding band was not allowed in the stretch where upper castes people live. According to the police,the incident took place in Sirohi village near Niwai late on Sunday night. A baraat of Ram Lalm son ofNand Kishore of Hanutiya village in Tonk district reached Sirohi village late on Sunday evening. Themarriage was to take place at the residence of Ram Karan whose daughter was to marry Ram Lal. "Whenthe groom sat on the horse to reach the marriage place, some member of the other community objected itand tension prevailed" said sources. "We received calls from some members of the Dalit community onSunday evening that some people from upper castes were not allowing the wedding procession to passby their houses. It was alleged that the road on which the wedding procession was to pass was blocked,"said a police officer. A team of police and administration officers including SHO, Datwas, Sangram Singhrushed to the spot. Officials said people from the upper castes were preventing the procession assomeone had died in the neighbourhood. A huge crowd of Dalit community members gathered at thecollectorate building in Tonk and staged a sit-in. They demanded stringent action against the members ofthe upper castes community. (Times of India 4/6/13)Vanniyar woman 'sacrifices' marriage with dalit youth following pressure from community (2)CHENNAI: Divya Nagarajan could barely stand in the Madras high court premises on Thursday. Thepressures of a seventh-month ordeal that included a daring elopement, an inter-caste marriage and casteviolence, with strong political overtones that spread across Dharmapuri district, sat heavily on her youngshoulders. When 22-year-old Divya, who belongs to the vanniyar community, decided to elope and marrya dailt youth, all hell broke loose. Her father Nagarajan committed suicide, prompting vanniyar communitymembers to go on the rampage in the dalit habitation in Natham colony in Dharmapuri district inNovember last year. "My husband and I are under huge pressure. I have decided to sacrifice my love, mymarriage, for the sake of a society that is caste-obsessed, and for the sake of my mother," Divya told TOI.There was high drama in the court premises, when, in an unexpected turn of events, Divya, who hadbraved the storm and stubbornly refused to leave her dalit husband all through the caste turmoil thatrocked Dharmapuri, arrived unexpectedly at the Madras high court on Thursday in response to a habeascorpus plea filed by her mother Thenmozhi last year. She had disappeared from her husband's house onTuesday night. Her husband E Elavarasan (20), who had filed a 'missing' complaint with the Dharmapuritown police, was also present in the court. Divya declined to respond to her husband's attempts to speakto her. But, Elavarasan, appearing shocked, said, "I strongly believe she will not leave me. We have beenfacing all these troubles only because I am born a dalit." Divya said she was under tremendous pressureto leave her husband and that she was in a disturbed state of mind. Her mother and relativesaccompanied the young woman, who appeared too weak to even stand on her own, in the court


premises. Her marriage to dalit youth Elavarasan in October last year against the wishes of her familyprecipitated a deep vanniyar-dalit rift not seen in the region for more than a decade. Under pressure fromvillage leaders to advice his daughter to return to the family, Nagaragan committed suicide, triggeringviolence that spread rapidly in the region. "My father's death was unexpected. I have been feeling guiltyabout his suicide, the violence that followed and the houses of dalit families that were burnt down. I amunable to sleep or eat properly due to the trauma," Divya said, breaking down. "Now, whenever I thinkabout it, I shiver with fear. I can't understand why caste plays such a role in our society?" she said.Justifying her decision to suddenly leave her husband and to return to her mother, Divya said, "I havecertain responsibilities towards my family. At the same time I am also grateful to Elavarasan, who tookgood care of me despite the turmoil around us," she said, adding that she was forced to remove hermangalsutra soon after she reached her mother's house in Sellankottai in the district. Divya said she wasnot kidnapped or forcibly taken away from her husband. "I have been talking to my mother in recentmonths over phone. I can understand her trauma. Elavarasan and I have also been under huge socialpressure," she said. On Tuesday, when her mother came to Dharmapuri town for medical treatment,Divya decided to meet her and accompany her back home. "It was a tough decision for me," she Divya,trying to hold back tears. Listening to her daughter, Thenmozhi said, "I am in a fix. I don't know whether tobe happy because my daughter has returned to me or feel sad that her married life has been shattered."Embittered by the events, Elavarasan said, "The last three months I thought her mother had a change ofheart and was backing us. It is only now that I believe she has been influencing her daughter and is stillopposed to our marriage." (Times of India 7/6/13)Financial corp targeting innocent applicants: Dalit body (2)AURANGABAD: The Dalit Atyachar Virodhi Mahasangh (DAVM) took out a rally on Friday alleging foulplay in the departmental inquiry set up by the Lokshahir Annabhau Sathe Development Corporation(LASDC) against loan defaulters. The agitators said Ramesh Kadam, president of LASDC, was targetinginnocent applicants and lodging false complaints against them. Addressing the rally of about 2,000members, DAVM office-bearer Baburao Kadam said LASDC did not examine the authenticity of thedocuments while approving the loans, which indicates involvement of some of its officials. He demandeda detailed inquiry against all the officers involved in the process. Kadam said the financial body shouldcertainly take action against those who violated the norms, but it should not target innocent applicants."Highlighting delay in loan approval, when some of the applicants tried to meet LASDC president on June5 during his visit to the city, he misbehaved with the applicants," he alleged. Commenting on the issue,Anil Maske, regional manager of LASDC, said some of the applicants tried to disrupt the meeting ofsenior officials of the corporation on June 5. "The police intervened and controlled the situation," he said,rubbishing claims of any misbehavior by LASDC president. Under its two special self-employmentschemes for the Matang community, LASDC had offered financial assistance of Rs 1 lakh to 377candidates and Rs 5 lakh to 214 beneficiaries between 2008 and 2011 to set up their own ventures.Unemployed candidates belonging to the community with less than Rs 1 lakh annual income were eligibleto avail the schemes. However, after noticing submission of fake documents in more than 330 cases,LASDC had initiated a high-level departmental inquiry into the matter. Besides, the financial body recentlylodged police complaints against eleven Aurangabad-based loan applicants, who allegedly procuredfinancial assistance from the corporation by providing fake documents. Maske said a special squad wasinvestigating 330 loan proposals and would dig out more skeletons. "We have found huge irregularities inapplication forms, where the applicants have mentioned fictitious names of witnesses and provided fakeaddresses to get financial assistance from LASDC. The team is investigating all the cases and policecomplaints against others will be lodged soon," he said. However, agitating members alleged that LASDCofficials were misleading the state government and acting tough against the loan applicants. (Times ofIndia 8/6/13)


Man forces dalit boy to carry footwear on head (2)MADURAI: An upper caste man who reportedly forced a 12-year-old dalit boy to carry his footwear on hishead and paraded him in a village in the district last week. He was arrested at Dindigul railway stationtoday, police said. The boy was returning home from school in Vadukapatti village after checking hisannual exam results last Monday when the man caught him, forced him to carry the footwear on his headand paraded him. The boy complained to his mother, a widow, who took up the matter with the man andhis family, who refused to apologize, following which she filed a complaint with police. The man's fatherand brother were arrested yesterday, police said. (Times of India 9/6/13)NHRC seeks govt report on ‘atrocities’ on Dalits (2)Lucknow: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sent a notice to the Chief Secretary ofUttar Pradesh, seeking a report on the alleged atrocities on dalits in Lalitpur district in Bundelkhand.NHRC has asked its Director General (Investigation) to send a fact-finding team to Lalitpur to investigatethe allegations. A Varanasi-based NGO – People's Vigilance Committee on Human Rights – had filed acomplaint on May 31, alleging that caste-based discrimination, sexual exploitation and untouchability iswidespread in Bundelkhand. The NGO's general secretary, Lenin Raghuvanshi, alleged in his complaintthat dalit villagers in Lalitpur are forced to hold their shoes in hand in front of the upper-caste Thakurcommunity. He further alleged that women of Valmiki community have to manually dispose of humanfaeces and carcasses of dead animals. The NHRC has sought a a report on the allegations within fourweeks. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 10/6/13)Dalit boy was subjected to humiliation, says probe team (2)MADURAI: An official team from the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), which visitedVadugapatti village in Madurai district, on Tuesday, to probe the discrimination meted out to dalits willsubmit a report to the government, urging for measures to be taken on it. Recently, a 12-year-old dalit boywas allegedly forced to carry footwear on his head and paraded in the village by a caste Hindu, forwalking with slippers on the common street. D Venkatesan, director of NCSC along with A Iniyan,investigator carried out a probe in the village and interacted with both the dalits and caste Hindus. Helater confirmed that the incident had indeed taken place and expressed concern over such incidents onthe rise in Tamil Nadu where dalits are discriminated by caste Hindus. Venkatesan said that it was aserious crime against the boy and the villagers were warned about the action against such discriminatingpractices under the law. The investigation report will be sent to the government for it to take necessaryaction to end the discrimination, he added. When the schools reopened on Monday, the boy P ArunKumar, who faced the humiliation of carrying the slippers on his head refused to attend, even though oneof his teachers tried to pacify him. It was also found that many dalit students attended school withoutfootwear fearing a backlash. Meanwhile, dalit students of the Government Kallar High School avoided themain pathway to the school and instead took a detour via agricultural fields and reached their institution.Even during the NCSC inspection, the dalits of the village demanded that the commission shouldrecommend creating a new pathway for them as well as access to the graveyard, which is separate fromthe caste Hindus. They also sought a separate community hall and sufficient police protection. Manydalits in the village alleged that prior to the meeting, the caste Hindus had warned them not to reveal orcomplain to the government officials or human rights group about the discrimination. Earlier in Madurai,the director inspected a government-aided school near South Gate after media reports surfaced aboutdalit students failing to get grant under the government scheme. The NCSC team questioned the schoolauthorities in this regard. (Times of India 12/6/13)Dalit discrimination takes different forms in Vadugapatti (2)MADURAI: Dalits can neither walk on the streets of caste Hindus with their footwear on nor can they entercommon pathways on bicycles. If they violated the rule they had to face the wrath of the dominant caste


in the village, the Piramalai Kallars. Twenty-nine-year-old Nagammal, the boy’s mother, was courageousenough to have taken up the issue with the police in a place where caste panchayats rule the roost. Theirtwo-room house in the colony has images of B.R.Ambedkar. Dalits in the village cannot enter theSanthana Mariamman temple in the village; nor are they allowed to use the village square space. Theyhave no access to common property resources. Even at ration shops, Dalits are abused by caste Hindusif they get close to them, said Vairupandy (25) a Dalit youth. Dalits cannot sit in front of caste Hindus atbus shelters; there is no pathway for them to approach the graveyard and even during an emergency theyhave to use a circuitous route. The law of the land is that all issues pertaining to the villages should bedealt within the caste panchayats (kangaroo courts). Maayakkal (60) and other Kallar women in thevillage square said that they don’t eat food or drink tea in Dalit houses . When asked why they said it hasbeen the tradition for centuries. The village school has portraits of all leaders such as Kamaraj andMuthuramalinga Thevar, but none of B.R.Ambedkar. When the Dalits tried to have one, their efforts wereprevented by the Kallars. The village has a good number of Dalit youth who wish to see social changeduring their lifetime and want to put an end to such forms of discrimination. Both the Kallars and Dalits inthe village are economically dependent on agriculture and brick kilns, but a few among the former haveused their snack-making skills in northern states and have earned quick money to return and buildconcrete roof houses and buy land. The Dalits were angry that the District Collector had not visited thevillage to enquire about the incident. (The Hindu 13/6/13)Dalit moves NCSC against casteist remark allegedly by minority (2)JAJPUR (ODISHA): Unable to get justice from the local police, a dalit man from Odisha's Jajpur districthas moved the National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) seeking "justice".Maheswar Bhoi (55),in a letter to NCSC, said that though he was abused in filthy language and castiest remarks by twomembers of minority community, the police ignored his complaints. Bhoi in his complaint said that he wascultivating a piece of land of Shaik Zuman (landlord) located in Saroi mouza as a Bhagachasi for the lastcouple of years. However, on May 9 when he objected Shaik Farastulla and Shaik Sarafatullah of localNeulpur village of pulling down the boundary line, they abused him in filthy language. "They alsothreatened to kill me if I opposed them further," Bhoi said in his complaint. Bhoi said he brought thematter to the notice of the landlord and subsequently filed a written complaint against the accusedpersons at the local Dharmasala police station. Dharmasala police neither registered a case in thisconnection nor took any action against the accused persons, Bhoi said adding that he moved the JudicialMagistrate First Class (JMFC), Chandikhole and sought its intervention to get justice. The JMFC directedthe Inspector-in-charge (IIC) of Dharmasala police station to register a case and take investigation.Though the police registered a case basing on his complaint, it did not take any action against accused,Bhoi said: " the duo was roaming freely and threatening me with dire consequence." "I have no otheroption but to approach the NCSC to get justice as police are showing indifference. Even after 36 dayshave passed since filing of my FIR no action has so far been taken in this regard." When contacted,Jajpur SP Deepak Kumar said the matter had not not been brought to his notice. (Times of India 15/6/13)“Uthapuram Dalit women are real heroes’’ (2)MADURAI: The brave Dalit women of Uthapuram are the real heroes who have fought a valiant battle.They have showed the world that if the oppressed and exploited along with the Left and pro-democraticforces stood up, they could beat any form of discrimination, said Communist Party of India (Marxist) PolitBuro member Brinda Karat. She was delivering a special address at a function held here on Saturday tohonour the advocates and social activists who fought for social justice in Uthapuram village near Maduraiwhere portion of a long wall that separated Dalits from caste Hindu locality was razed to enable access tothe common pathway of Dalits. Ms. Karat said that radical social change would happen only whenannihilation of deep-rooted caste prejudices and discriminatory practices against Dalits was undertaken.


The National Crime Records Bureau shows that in 2012, there were 33,655 cases of atrocitiesperpetrated on Dalits. This gives us an idea that on an average, every day 93 members of the Dalitcommunity were victims of one form of atrocity or the other. It is a shame that even after 66 years ofIndependence such a situation exists in the country, she remarked. The NCRB data suggests that1,10,000 cases of atrocities are pending in courts, but only 3.6 per cent have ended in conviction. Amongthe 35,655 cases sent to court, conviction in cases of atrocities on Dalits was a mere 23 per cent and in77 per cent of the cases, the perpetrators go scot-free. “It is a shame on the judiciary system and on theprocess of legal justice,” she said. “When the wall was demolished in Uthapuram, it was not just brick andmortar. The wall represented the edifice of discrimination and denial of minimal human dignity.” Earlierdenied rights like worshipping rights and access to common property resources have been won after along struggle. Still there were unfinished tasks like proper access to the common pathway that wascreated after the demolition of the wall. The Madras High Court ordered that full compensation be given toeach and every family that was affected in the police excesses. The order further said that districtmonitoring committees should be vigilant in maintaining peace and it is our duty to mount pressure on themonitoring committee to implement the court order fully, Ms. Karat pointed out. The 92- year-old veteranMarxist leader, R. Umanath, was present at the function in which a lot of Dalit women participated. (TheHindu 16/6/13)State bans book claiming Scheduled Caste as original rulers of Tamil land (2)MADURAI: A book written by an author belonging to the Pallar community, one of the Scheduled Castesin Tamil Nadu, claiming that Pallars are the original settlers of fertile river tracts in Tamil land, andsouthern Tamil Nadu’s rulers, has been banned by the State government. Written by K.Senthil Mallar, the624-page yet to be released book titled Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru (Resurgence of PandiyarHistory) is an attempt towards caste identity construction and antiquity that the Pallars were rulers ofTamil land but enslaved by invaders during the 17 century. The book (a copy of which is with The Hindu)contains photographs of inscriptions, scanned copies of documents, community certificates and otherrelated documents claiming that they are the descendants of Pandyas. The State government, in its banorder issued by Jatindra Nath Swain, Principal Secretary (Public) to the State government late last month,said that the presentation of the author carried demeaning description and disparaging remarks againstcertain communities. Moreover, the order said that the contents of the book had defamatory statementsand distorted history about leaders such as Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar and Kamaraj, besideshistorical figures — Azhagumuthu Kone and Veerapandiya Kattabomman — which were likely to causedisharmony, feeling of enmity, hatred and ill will between different communities. “The book under section95 (1) (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974), including its prints, copies,reprints, translation and such other documents containing extracts, be forfeited to the Government.” Theauthor of the book, Senthil Mallar, told The Hindu here on Sunday that he was yet to receive a copy of theorder. “The book was originally planned to be released in Sattur on April 25, <strong>2013</strong> but we suspended theevent following a ban by the Virudhunagar police department stating that it would trigger caste violence.Later, we planned to hold it in Madurai, but this ban [by the State government] was unexpected.” Theauthor contended that the government was trying to suppress the history of “original inhabitants” of Tamilland. “The ban is an effort to muzzle the re-construction of history by a caste which has a long historysince the Sangam Age. We will face it legally.” ..(The Hindu 18/6/13)Hike compensation to Rs 5L: Dalit forums (2)MANGALORE: Various factions of KarnatakaDalitSangharshSamiti (DSS) have demanded justice forthose who died in the compound wall collapse at Thottilaguri at Bajpe here on Tuesday. They havepromised to support the cause taken up by DSS (BhimaVaada) which has demanded a hike incompensation to the next of kin of victims and a probe into the incident. M Chandappa, district convenerof DSS (BhimaVaada), told reporters here 18 dalit families have been residing on around three acres of


government land for the past 20 years there. The government based on applications received from thefamilies has sanctioned title deeds to six families and efforts are on to secure title deeds for the rest,Chandappa said, adding the families received limited basic minimum facilities after protracted agitation.Claiming that locals and outsiders have encroached on rest of the land, Chandappa said the tragedy tookplace due to permission given by Bajpe gram panchayath to allow commercial complex come up illegallyin the elevated land above the houses of dalits. The waste from the complex is let out in the landoccupied by the dalits, he said adding repeated complaints to the gram panchayath and authoritiesconcerned did not yield any desired results. Stating that he had forewarned authorities about theimpending disaster at Thottilaguri, Chandappa said the state government and chief minister shouldintervene to provide justice to the victims. Compensation should be hiked from Rs 1.5 lakh announced bythe DC to Rs 5 lakh, he said, adding the government must give a written assurance on rehabilitating thevictims permanently. The state government must consider this fit case to be booked under SC/STPrevention of Atrocities Act, take care of the medical expenses of the five injured persons, and provide agovernment job on humanitarian grounds to dependents of victims. Stating that the state government hasnot met assurances given to dalits in the past, he said dalit organizations will jointly launch an agitation ifjustice is denied to the families at Thottilaguri. (Times of India 21/6/13)Dalit woman raped in Haryana (2)REWARI: A 25-year-old dalit woman was allegedly raped by a person for three years on the pretext ofmarrying her, police said on Sunday. The woman, a divorcee and resident of Qutubpur colony here, inher complaint on Saturday alleged Jhajjar district native Vipin Kumar of raping her, they said. Medicalexamination of the woman confirmed rape following which Vipin was arrested, police said. According tothe complaint, about three years back the woman went to Jhajjar to appear in an exam, where she metVipin and developed a friendship with him. On the pretext of marrying her, Vipin allegedly exploited thewoman, police said. Vipin got married to another woman on June 1, this year, they said. On hercomplaint, a case under relevant sections of IPC and SC/ST Act was registered against Vipin, they said,adding the accused was produced in local court, which sent him to judicial custody. (Times of India23/6/13)Tension in village as girl elopes with Dalit (2)DINDIGUL: Less than a week after two lovers from different castes committed suicide in Kodaikanal dueto opposition from their families, another inter-caste relationship, this time including a minor girl, triggeredtension in another place in Dindigul district. On Sunday, a caste panchayat in Murugampatti in AthoorTaluk summoned the family of a 20-year-old Dalit man after he allegedly eloped with a girl from the HinduYadav community earlier in the day. According to police, Marichelvan, a resident of Kallampatti nearMurugampatti, was a college dropout. In 2012, he reportedly fell in love with the girl, a class-XI student.The couple apparently managed to keep their relationship a secret. On Sunday morning, the girl told herparents that she was going to a temple. As she failed to return, her parents found out about therelationship when they came across love letters hidden in her schoolbag. Suspecting that she had elopedwith Marichelvan, the girl’s family lodged a complaint with the Murugampatti Police Station alleging thatshe had been abducted by the youth. Even as police began efforts to trace the missing couple, the girl’sfamily sought intervention of the Yadav community. The caste panchayat summoned Marichelvan’srelatives. They demanded that his family make efforts to trace the couple and provide any information onthe matter. Meanwhile, Murugampatti Police filed a case and were investigating. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express24/6/13)Laws alone cannot fight caste bias (2)The move to strengthen the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989,has to be seen in the context of the next Lok Sabha elections due in less than a year. The Congress-led


United Progressive Alliance government seems to think that by addressing the sense of insecurity ofDalits and tribals, it will be able to build a sizeable vote bank. The idea is to define “atrocities” a little morecomprehensively so that if a Dalit or a tribal is prevented from contesting elections or such an electedperson is prevented from discharging his duties or if any of them is socially or economically boycotted, thelaw can be used against the guilty. One crucial change proposed is that the accused should have theforeknowledge that the victim is a Dalit or a tribal if the Act is to be invoked against him. Be that as it may,during the two decades the Act has been in force, it has not curbed the number of cases of atrocitiesagainst the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Far from that, the figures available with theNational Crime Records Bureau suggest that atrocities against Dalits have more than doubled during thisperiod. Even when the Bahujan Samaj Party was in power in Uttar Pradesh when the maximum numberof cases were registered under the Act, there was no let-up in the atrocities against Dalits. Policecontinue to show reluctance to register cases under the Act and even when cases are registered, they failon the investigation front. Small wonder that the conviction rate in such cases has been abnormally low. Italso needs to be pointed out that there have been instances when the law, which has stricter provisionsfor bail, was misused to punish innocent persons. The anti-rape law was strengthened recently but it hasnot reduced incidents of rape. Similarly, to expect the amended Act to reduce caste-based atrocities isnot to know the social roots of caste discrimination, which needs to be fought socially, politically,economically and legally. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express 26/6/13)MP Dalit sarpanch begs for survival (2)Bhopal: A Dalit sarpanch in Damoh district makes both ends meet by occasionally begging in the villagewhere she is supposed to be in a decision-making role. Unlettered, Rajni Bansal was elected as sarpanchof the reserved Bachhama gram panchayat seat in 2010 when she was forced to contest. It's been morethan three years but she has not attended the office. The plight of the mother of five seems to haveworsened because she does not even get the honorarium on time and the villagers have stoppedemploying her labourer husband. She is called to hoist the Tricolour because that's customary, probablythe only time she gets any invitation. Moved by her plight after reading a newspaper report, BJP MLAfrom Hata Umadevi Khatik has decided to help her. "It's a poor, backward and undeveloped region. Shedoes not know her job because she is uneducated,'' she said. Chief executive officer of Hata JanpadPanchayat Anand Shukla said he had sent "a fact-finding team" to the remote village where access hasbeen made difficult by rains. He claimed it was unlikely that the woman has taken to begging as thegovernment was providing food grains at nominal rate to BPL and Antyodaya families. A previouspanchayat secretary had been removed because he allegedly made her put thumb impression on files.Since then development work in the panchayat has stopped. Shukla and Khatik hinted there wereirregularities in the panchayat's accounts. Executive director of Samarthan Yogesh Kumar said merereservation won't bring about women's empowerment. He said in Rajni's case, there was a need forreforms because seats are reserved in accordance with the SC/ST population in the entire block. Thesereserved seats are randomly chosen creating a situation when SCs or STs are in much less numbers inthat particular seat leading to unwilling candidates getting elected. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 27/6/13)Classmates attack Dalit boy in school (2)MADURAI: Barely 20 days after the footwear on head punishment for a 12-year-old Dalit student;another harassment incident was reported in the district on Tuesday in which a class XII boy belonging toa SC community was abused and attacked by a group of caste Hindu students. Sources said that (namechanged) Raja (17) son of Sarkkarai, attached with Dalit community, Andipatti Pudhur in Tiruvadavur,was a student of class XII in government higher secondary school in Tiruvadavur. Police said during agame session in the class, an altercation broke out between two groups of students. A group of fivecaste Hindu students attacked Raja and abused him using his caste name. Raja, who was injured in theattack, was admitted to the GRH, police said. Based on a complaint from Raja, police registered a case


and arrested three caste Hindu students. Two more students are on the run. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express28/6/13)Dalit woman axed to death after rape in Haryana (2)Rohtak: A 35-year-old Dalit widow was allegedly axed to death after being raped by a man of upper casteat Rambas village of Mahendergarh district on Saturday. The accused identified as Satbir Thakur, 36, aresident of the same village, who was arrested by the police on Saturday. The police have booked him forrape and murder, besides provisions of the SC/ST Act. The accused had visited the house of victim in thewee hours of Saturday and asked the victim to accompany him to the jungle on pretext of searching hisgoats. The police said that the accused allegedly raped the victim in the jungle and then axed her todeath. The body was first spotted by women of the village who had gone to the jungle for attendingnature's call. The police reached the spot and sent the body for autopsy. Narnaul DSP Jaipal Singh said,"We have recovered the axe used in the crime from the spot designated by the accused and areinterrogating him.” (Hindustan Times 30/6/13)‘State should ensure Dalit panchayat presidents function independently’ (2)MADURAI: The State government should take adequate steps to ensure meaningful Dalit participation inlocal body governance as elected Dalit members in many villages are not able to function independentlyand freely, Thol. Thirumavalavan, MP and president, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, said on Sunday. Inan interview, he said the 73rd Constitutional Amendment instituted a policy of political reservation in localgovernment and ensured participatory democracy at the grassroots-level for historically disadvantagedsocial groups, including Dalits and women. “However, in many places, the decentralised nature ofgrassroots democracy has made it easier for local elites to hold sway over village panchayats,” he said.Political mobilisation and assertion of Dalits had, unfortunately, led to an increase in attacks on them.When the VCK wanted to come out of dependence on the State’s principal political parties - the DMK orthe AIADMK - and join the mainstream even while adhering to its core ideals of safeguarding rights forScheduled Castes, casteist forces joined hands and sought to target the VCK, he charged. He contendedthat the formation of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK)-backed Anaithu Samuthaya Iyakkam was in response tothe emergence of the VCK as a significant political force. In the past 20 years, Dalits-backed politicalparties had launched several agitations on a number of issues including equal status in temples forworship and performance of rites and equal rights in auctioning of common property resources. On thedecision of Dalit leaders Parithi Elamvazhuthi and E. Ponnusamy to join the AIADMK, Mr.Thirumavalavan said it was a sign of “social insecurity,” and it was the rigidity of caste structure that didnot allow Dalit leaders to identify themselves with Dalit parties. No other mainstream party other than theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) was paying homage to six elected panchayat Dalit members who diedfighting for their political rights in Melavalavu near Madurai in 1997 where they were hacked to death forcontesting elections. He wanted the DMK, the Dravidar Kazhagam, and the Communist Party of India toparticipate in the Memorial Day and recognise their sacrifice. On Neyveli Lignite Corporationdisinvestment issue, the VCK’s stand was that the Centre should not divest shares of the NLC to theprivate sector. The VCK supported Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s offer to buy the stake through TamilNadu’s public sector undertakings. Mr.Thirumavalavan appealed to the State government to appoint amonitoring committee to ensure proper implementation of post Matric scholarship scheme for SC/STstudents and Dalit Christians. (The Hindu 1/7/13)Dalit outfit wants ban on book to be revoked (2)COIMBATORE: A petition was submitted by the Devendra Kulu Vellalar Peeravai (DKVP) on Monday tothe district collector demanding withdrawal of the ban imposed on 'Meendezhum Pandyar Varalaru'(Resurrection of the Pandya history), a book authored by K Senthil Mallar, founder of Mallar Meetpu


Kalam. The activists claimed that the book was well-researched and contains nothing that can disruptcommunal harmony. The state government banned the book on May 30 alleging that it might hurt thesentiments of various communities. The government order alleged that the author of the book has abusedvarious castes and even has drawn wrong aspersions on renowned freedom fighters including,Kattabomman, Pasumpon Muthuramalingam, Kamarajar and Alagumuthu. The DKVP activists, however,refuted the allegation. "In fact the author has even challenged that if the contents are proved to besomething that can harm the communal harmony, then he will pay Rs 10lakh as penalty," said VNagendran the district president of DKVP. The book according to him was based on various historicalevidences including, manuscripts and inscriptions to references in folk songs. He first studied varioustopics for years and then penned the book and even consulted eminent writers. Moreover, several partsof the book were based on contents published by books authorised by the government, he said. LSidharthan, a co-ordinator of the outfit, said the book which was in circulation for more than a year hadnot caused any problem. Nor did anyone raise any issues till now. "This has raised suspicions on theintention of such a move," he said. (Times of India 2/7/13)BSP key formula: 16% Brahmins + 25% Dalits = Power (2)Lucknow: In a bid to woo the Brahmins for which her party has been holding special conventions acrossthe state — Sunday's Lucknow convention was the last of such series covering Lok Sabha constituenciesof Lucknow, Barabanki and Mohanlalganj — Mayawati said she was trying to forge brotherhood amongvarious communities from upper castes to minorities in order to win a large number of Lok Sabha seatsand emerge as the "balance of power" at the Centre. "We cannot come to the Centre without associatingall the castes with us," she said. BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Misra, who was thanked byMayawati for "successfully" holding the party's Brahmin Bhaichara conventions, said the Brahmins, whoconstitute 16 per cent of the state's population should forge a brotherhood with about 25 per cent Dalits towin a large number of Lok Sabha seats from UP and make Mayawati the prime minister. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express8/7/13)Tamil Nadu govt orders commission to probe death of dalit youth (2)CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Monday set up an one-member judicial commission headedby retired judge of the Madras high court, S R Singaravelu, to probe the death of dalit youth EElavarasan. Elavarsan's body was found near the railway tracks in Dharmapuri on July 4. Elavarasan'smarriage to a vanniyar (MBC) woman Divya had triggered a wave of caste violence in Tamil Nadu. Thedalit youth had eloped and married Divya last year, igniting anti-dalit violence in dalit colonies inDharmapuri district. Elavarsan's body was found alongside the railway tracks a day after Divya'ssubmission to the Madras high court on a habeas corpus petition moved by her mother, that she wouldnot live with her husband. Police have found a suicide not and are checking its authenticity. Explainingthe rationale behind constituting the commission, chief minister J Jayalalithaa, in an official statement,said that several reports on the death that caused deep anguish and shock had been appearing in themedia. T Elagno, father of Elavarasan also raised doubts over the cause of his son's death. "Therfore, Iordered setting up a commission under S R Singaravelu, the retired judge of the Madras High Court toprobe into the incident," she said. Singaravelu is also the chairman of the Private School's feedetermination committee. (Times of India 8/7/13)CP bans entry for Dalit leaders (2)Mumbai: Fearing a possible law and order situation, the city police has restricted the entry of senior Dalitleaders to Siddharth College in Churchgate. The Azad Maidan police on Sunday slapped notices againstaround 25 people from the warring groups that are claiming their hold in the management of the college,after the commissioner of police issued an order. These mainly include Republican Party of India chiefRamdas Athawale, Bharat Bahujan Mahasangh chief Prakash Ambedkar and Republican Sena chief


Anandraj Ambedkar. Commissioner Dr Satyapal Singh issued a public order under Section 39 of theBombay Police Act, following which the Azad Maidan police slapped notices against Mr Athawale, theAmbedkars and other trustees, restricting their entry to Siddharth College and the Buddha Bhavanpremises. Since it is a public order, around 50 copies of the same have been pasted in and around thecollege and Buddha Bhavan. A commissioner of police generally issues such orders after anticipatingproblems of law and order at a particular place or region over a dispute. “If Dalit leaders, trustees involvedin the dispute or any of their supporters or party workers tries to enter the college premises they will beimmediately detained by the police and will be charged accordingly,” said an IPS officer. The order is notfor any specific period. It will last till any court’s order comes. The order will be renewed if the need arises,the officer added. (Asian Age 8/7/13)Amid caste tension, some recall man who led dalits into temples (2)CHENNAI: July 8 commemorates a crucial event that paved the way for the assertion of the rights ofdalits across the country. On this day in 1939, freedom fighter A VaidyanathaIyer led a group of dalits tothe Meenakshi Amman temple in Madurai. V K Sthanunathan, 91, the son-in-law of the late freedomfighter, spoke to TOI about the historic day. "Morning of July 8, 1939, the news spread that VaidyanathaIyer had entered the temple with a group of dalits. While there were jubilations all across MadrasPresidency, a section of orthodox brahmins created a furore and said the deity of the shrine had left thetemple as it was polluted by untouchables," said Sthanunathan. "They filed a criminal suit against him butRajaji, the then chief minister of Madras Presidency, issued an ordinance legalizing the entry of dalits intemples across the presidency with retrospective effect. In the same year, a bill for temple entry waspassed in the legislative assembly and it became law," he said. Recalling the leader's conviction in hisideals, Sthanunathan said, "When he addressed a public gathering in Madurai during the Quit IndiaMovement, he was jailed by the British government under the charges of rioting. After his release in 1946,the government wanted to cancel his licence for practising law at the Madras high court. He wassummoned before Sir Lionel Leach, the chief justice of Madras HC, and was asked to give anunconditional apology to the government. But he calmly denied saying that he had not done anything toincite rioting. The sincerity of his answer impressed the judge so much that he decided to drop thecharges." "His house was regularly visited by Congress leaders and party workers across India and it wasa common sight to see him having lunch with 20 other people. He financed the education of many dalitstudents," he said. Though Vaidyanatha Iyer was reluctant to hold a ministerial post, he was persuadedby Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel to contest elections and was elected as an MLA from Madurai-Melur constituency. "His speeches had the assembly spellbound and on occasions, he spoke on aspecific bill for more than an hour. His commitment towards the welfare of dalits has few parallels," saidSthanunathan. (Times of India 9/7/13)Knot scared: Rajasthan dalit groom defies threats, rides horse (2)AJMER: A dalit groom rode a horse for his marriage procession defying threats from upper caste villagersfor the first time under tight police security at Neemada village in Rajasthan's Ajmer district on Fridaynight. Dalits are not allowed to ride a horse especially for marriage processions. Ranjeet Singh Berwa'sfamily had sought police help after the villagers had threatened him against riding a horse for his marriageprocession. But the cops had told them to follow the village tradition forcing the family to file anapplication before the Center for Dalit Rights (CDR), which informed the district collector Vabhav Gallariaabout it. "We investigated and found that dalits were banned from moving on horses and no one hadcourage to break this law," said CDR's Ramesh Chand Bansal. The district administration took thecomplaint seriously and Gallaria instructed police to ensure the marriage procession's security. Subdivision officer Om Parkash Sharma, Tahsildar Ram Chand Meena and police in-charge Sugan Singhoversaw the security deployed. Even under tight security, many were not sure whether to break thecustom. "No one, even me, my father and my five sons ever had the courage to go through the roads in


the village on a horse," said a resident. Officials said there was some tension as the procession started."There were chances of conflict at that time but we were alert," said an official. When the processionreached the center of the village, celebrations erupted. "It is like dream for us and felt that we too haveright to dignity," said Peeruji. Another resident, Ram Karan Berwa, said thousands of marriages havetaken place in the village but no dalit family had ever dared to "break this law".As per the tradition, a dalitgroom has to step down from the horse within Neemada's limits and go to bride's house on foot. "Thosewho have tried breaking this custom were punished severely mostly with heavy penalties," said Berwa.(Times of India 14/7/13)After second autopsy, body of Tamil Nadu Dalit youth buried (2)Chennai: Ten days after he was found dead on a railway track, the body of Dalit youth E Elavarasan (20)was buried at his native village in Natham, Dharampuri, on Sunday. His marriage with an upper-caste girlhad sparked violence against his community in Tamil Nadu. The doubts surrounding his death will endonly after the three-member team of forensic experts from AIIMS submits its second autopsy report theMadras High Court. The autopsy was conducted on Saturday after which Elavarasan's body was taken toDharmapuri. The administration had clamped prohibitory orders and refused permission to anyone otherthan family members to attend the funeral. But villagers defied orders and accompanied his body to theburial site. The police stepped in when a few lawyers and activists tried to take part in the procession.About 15 persons, including Elavarasan's lawyer S Rajinikanth and IAS officer-turned-political activistSivagami were detained. The police, based on Elavarasan's four-page suicide note, have maintained thathe had committed suicide. Recently, they found out that he had earlier tried to end his life after his wife,Divya Nagarajan, went back to her mother last month. The autopsy report said fatal head injury was thecause of death, but revealed little else. The family and activists suspected foul play and had sought asecond autopsy. The family has resolved to set up a library in Elavarasan's memory at the burial site.(<strong>Indian</strong> Express 15/7/13)Vanniyar girl married to Dalit seeks protection from PMK (2)Thanjavur: A 19-year-old girl belonging to the Vanniyar community who married a Dalit youth after fallingin love with him surrendered at the district police office seeking police protection as she feared threat totheir lives from activists of PMK and Vannyiar Sangam. Senthamizhselvi, in her petition to SPDharmarajan, said she and her husband Vimalraj felt threatened. “PMK founder Dr Ramadoss isresponsible if anything untoward happens to me or my husband Vimalraj or his parents”, she said. On thedirections of SP Dhar-marajan, the couple were taken to all women police station in Kumbakonam. Sinceher father had lodged a complaint with Jayanko-ndam police against Vimalraj for ‘kidnapping his minor’daughter, the inspector took the couple to the judicial magistrate court in Jayankondam to get theirstatements recorded. It cannot be dismissed as yet another Dalit-Van-niyar marriage that faces threatfrom casteists as two young lives are inv-olved. The girl, Sentham-izhs-elvi (19), daughter of Selvaraj ofwest street in Manakkarai village, Chi-n-navalayam post, Uday-arp-alayam taluk, Ariy-alur district, andstudying second-year B.Sc. Zoology in the government arts college for women in Kumbakonam, fell inlove with a 27-year-old Dalit, Vimalraj, son of Govin-dasamy of Kaliam-mankoil street,Then-ka-ch--iperuma-lnath-am village, in Uday-arp-alayam taluk. As her parents got wind of her affair,they strongly opposed it. The girl el-oped with Vim-alraj about a month ago. Her father Selvaraj lodged acomplaint stating that she was a minor and Vim-alraj had kidnap-ped her. Police registered a caseagainst Vimal-raj and his parents. The local leaders of the PMK and Van-n-iyar Sangam, who felt that thegirl had brought disgrace to their community by marrying a Dalit, also started searching for the lovers.Senthamizhselvi and Vimalraj, who were absc-onding, got married in the presence of advocate K.S.Karthikeyan and got their marriage regist-e-red at the sub-registr-a-r’s office in Thiru-pan-andal, nearKumb-ak-onam, on June 25. Later, they settled down in Thiru-pa-na-ndal area and started living ashusband and wife. “As they feared threat to their lives, we filed a wr-it petition before the Madras HC


seeking po-lice protection. Dispo-si-ng of the petition, the HC directed the police not to harass the couplebut to pro-vide protection,” said advocate Karthikeyan. Sent-ham-izhs-el-vi claimed that she and Vimalrajhad been in love for over three years. “My mother is no more. My father and stepmother deci-ded to getme married to an old man to clear a debt owed by my father to that man,” Sentham-izhs-elvi. (Asian Age16/7/13)'Need unbiased probe in attacks against dalits' (2)JAIPUR: The jury of the state level public hearing organized by the Centre for Dalit Rights (CDR) onSunday recommended that the state government should ensure unbiased investigation in cases relatedto dalit women atrocities. The CDR picked up 20 cases of dalit women atrocities in the state to conduct ahearing in which the victims appeared in person. The victims demanded justice and said in some of thecases; police have closed the cases by giving them final report, CDR chief patron PL Mimroth said. Mostcases were related to rape, abduction, and discrimination against them. The victims said they live inconstant fear as the accused may attack them. They also raised question on the role of police in theinvestigations in some cases. Among the jury were IAS officer Aditi Mehta, member of the NAC, FarahNaqvi, retired judge and state women's commission chairperson Lad Kumari Jain. (Times of India22/7/13)BJP chief plans temple stay to woo Dalits (2)New Delhi: After organising a mass meal with Dalits in April, Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel is set to woo thecommunity ahead of upcoming Assembly polls. After a pad yatra, Goel and his supporters will stay at theBalmiki temple in Pandav Nagar, a Dalit-dominated area. According to a party press release, Goel wassupposed to stay at a Dalit's house. The venue was later changed to the temple. "All my supporters wouldnot fit inside one house. So, we chose the Balmiki temple. We will sit there and discuss problems with theresidents," Goel said, refraining from commenting on analogy between Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhispending a night at Dalit home. Attacking Congress on neglecting Dalits, he alleged, "An amount of Rs744 crore was diverted from Special Component Plan (SCP), meant for the welfare of Dalits, to projectslinked directly or indirectly to the 2010 Commonwealth Games." He also alleged that the Congressgovernment had neglected the Dalit community for the last 15 years. "It is evident from the fact that theliteracy rate of SC and Dalit population in Delhi is at least 10-15 per cent below other communities," Goelsaid. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 22/7/13)Rohtas tense after murder of two dalit boys (2)SASARAM: Two dalit boys - Rahul (12) and Karan (9) - were kidnapped and killed near Sone canal underNasriganj police station in Rohtas district on Monday. There were marks of acid burn near their eyes.Agitated local residents pelted policemen with stones and injured four of them. They also blocked theNasriganj-Dehri-on-Sone road for several hours in protest against the killing of the two brothers who werekidnapped on Sunday morning. Their father, Sunil Ram, had lodged a missing report with the Nasriganjpolice station.The bodies were sent to the local hospital for postmortem. SDPO Bikramganj Ashok K Dasconfirmed the incident. Rohtas SP reached the spot to take stock of the situation. Resentment prevailsamong the locals. On Sunday, a 12-year-old girl was gang-raped and killed at Rajpur under the samepolice station in Rohtas district. It had triggered violent protests in the area and the residents had set apolice jeep afire. (Times of India 23/7/13)Child, woman hurt as dalits attacked in Dindigul (2)DINDIGUL: A group of non-dalitvanniyar youth allegedly attacked two dalit youths of Kariyampatti villagenear Nilakottai in Dindigul district for wearing t-shirts bearing the picture of freedom fighter Ondiveeran,who is celebrated as a dalit icon. A child and a woman were also injured after the non-dalit youthsransacked the houses of the dalits for lodging a police complaint. Police have arrested eight vanniyars on


Monday night for attacking the youth and later ransacking their houses. Cases have been registered 84non-dalits and a search is on to arrest them. Police said the situation is under control now and a peacecommittee meeting between the dalit arunthathiyars and Vanniyars has been scheduled for Wednesday."All the accused should be arrested immediately and the victims should be given a solatium of Rs 60,000each. The damaged houses must also be renovated," said A Kathir, executive director of Evidence, anNGO that made a fact-finding visit to Kariyampatti. The trouble started on July 16 in the village, the lastday of the three-day Kaliamman temple festival celebrated by dalits. Two dalit youths had worn t-shirtsbearing the picture of Ondiveeran during the festival. A group of non-dalit youth picked up a quarrel withthem and forced the dalits to remove the t-shirts. Again, on July 21, two more dalit youth were spotted bythe non-dalits wearing similar t-shirts with Ondiveeran's image. When the dalits refused to remove the t-shirts, they were allegedly assaulted by five non-dalit youth. The same day, a case was registered inNilakottai police station but the accused were not arrested. However, a large group of non-dalits whoturned furious after the case was registered barged into the dalit residential area and damaged fourhouses there. A three-year-old child and a woman were injured in the attack. Immediately, police rushedto the spot and arrested eight of the accused while others escaped. "T-shirts were only the immediateprovocation. There was simmering tension between dalits and non-dalits even before that," said a policeofficer. (Times of India 24/7/13)Explore bringing back dalit victims to Mirchpur: Supreme Court (2)NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked legal experts and social scientists to explore thepossibilities if Dalit victims of Mirchpur Village violence in Haryana could be brought back and resettled intheir native place. The court's observation followed the state government's statement that it would providefood grain and employment to the Dalit victims from Hisar district. An apex court bench of Justice G SSinghvi and Justice V Gopala Gowda asked the president of the Hisar District Legal Aid Committee andrepresentatives of Tata <strong>Institute</strong> of <strong>Social</strong> Sciences to explored the possibilities if the displaced victimscould be brought back to the village or suggest other alternative options. "We consider appropriate torequest the Hisar Legal Aid Committee and the nominee of the director of Tata <strong>Institute</strong> of <strong>Social</strong>Sciences to conduct joint inspection with the assistance of other officers of the district to suggestavailable solutions," the court said. Dalit settlements were targeted and torched by the members ofdominant case April 21, 2010 in which a 70-year-old man his 18-year-old physically challenged daughterwere killed. The court's order to explore the possibilities of bringing back the displaced Dalits came afterHaryana's Additional Advocate General Manjit Singh Dalal told the court that "resettling them outsideMirchpur was not possible".The court said that those members of the victim families who needemployment should approach the competent authority for employment under the rural job scheme. "Theyare not coming" as they had found employment, Dalal told the court. As senior counsel Colin Gonsalves,appearing for victim petitioners, told the court that they were scared of going back to their village fearing abacklash, the court said that things will change only with awareness and change of mindset. Pointing toincidents of violence against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan, andAndhra Pradesh, the court said "it takes a lot of time before reforms come".Pointing to the nationalstatistics of violence against Dalits, the court said: "Obviously the bias is across the country. Unless themindset changes, how does it help...society must change." "In a large country like ours it takes time.There is no other country where such caste based crimes takes place." Justice Singhvi referred to thegrowing awareness on women empowerment. "There is awareness about women. Their participation isincreasing. It is more in urban areas but with passage of time it will come there (rural areas) also." (Timesof India 26/7/13)Two held for allegedly raping Dalit sisters in Kundapur (2)Udupi/ Mangalore: Two persons were arrested for allegedly raping two girls belonging to a ScheduledTribe at a village in Kundapur taluk of Udupi district on Monday. According to the district police, the two


accused had been identified as Vinod and Prajeet, both about 21 years. Vinod and Prajeet are relativesand own an autorickshaw. They used to occasionally take the two girls, both sisters, aged 18 and 16years, in autorickshaw from their (girls’) house to a cashew factory about six kilometres away, for the lastone-and-a-half years. During this period, they developed a physical relationship with them. Both Vinodand Prajeet promised to marry the girls, then minors, and later went back on their word. A case has beenregistered under Sections 376 and 417 of IPC, the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act, Section 4 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, on a complaintgiven by the mother of the two girls at Kollur police station and further investigations were on, the policesaid. (The Hindu 30/7/13)Another dalit-vanniyar couple run into community hurdle (2)CHENNAI: The ill-fated Divya-Elavarasan marriage, and the violence it triggered, has shattered peace inanother household where a dalit-vanniyar couple was leading a peaceful life for more than three years.Now the dalit woman, S Sudha , who married a vanniyar man in April 2010 at Kadaiyampatti village inDharmapuri district , has come knocking at the doors of the Madras high court, claiming that the entirefamily, including her in-laws , had been excommunicated. She sought protection from 'community leaders'Justice K K Sasidharan, before whom the matter came up for hearing, directed the Dharmapuri districtadministration to provide police protection to Sudha and her family members, and ensure that they livedpeacefully without any threat or attack from the 21 identified individuals of the village. Lamenting the lackof camaraderie among people from different castes, Justice Sasidharan said: "This petition projects asorry state of affairs in Tamil Nadu, and Dharmapuri district in particular. The petitioner (Sudha) had alove affair with a man of another community resulting in their marriage. She now wants to live in thevillage along with her in-laws . In a matter of this nature, the court has to strike a balance between theright of the petitioner to live in the village and the need to preserve peace and tranquillity in the area."Sudha said that after the Divya-Elavarasan episode, violence broke out in Dharmapuri. She claimed thatmembers of the vanniyar community in the village boycotted her family. Life became so miserable thatshe was forced to leave the village, she said, adding that 21 local leaders conducted a katta panchayat(kangaroo court) and excommunicated her and the family. She wanted police protection to live in thevillage. When the matter was taken up, the government pleader informed the court that police werealready providing protection to her and that two sub-inspectors and eight constables had been posted fortheir protection. Recording the submissions, Justice Sasidharan asked the Dharmapuri superintendent ofpolice to ensure that Sudha's family was able to live peacefully, and was allowed to use the village welland other common amenities without any problem…. (Times of India 31/7/13)Protect Dalit woman, Dharmapuri SP told (2)CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the Dharmapuri district Superintendent of Police toprovide protection to Dalit woman S Sudha, who married an upper-caste man and thereby earned thewrath of the villagers and was ex-communicated. This writ petition projected a sorry state-of-affairsprevailing in the State in general and more particularly in Dharmapuri, Justice KK Sasidharan observedon July 26. In a matter of this nature, the court had to strike a balance between the right of the petitionerto live in the village and the need to preserve the peace and tranquility in the area, the judge added. Itwas open to Sudha to enter her village and live along with her in-laws. The police should ensure that shelived peacefully without any threat or attack by 21 persons named in her affidavit, or their men. The policeprotection must be meaningful and they should ensure that the petitioner was permitted to take water anduse other common amenities without any problem, the judge said while passing interim orders on a writpetition from Sudha. The judge also issued notices to the 21 persons, returnable by August 19. (new<strong>Indian</strong> Express 31/7/13)HC allows girl to live with Dalit husband (2)


MADURAI: The Madras High Court bench here on Thursday closed a habeas corpus petition filed by thewife of a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam functionary, who claimed that her daughter was kidnapped by aDalit boy. The petitioner, S. Dhanalakshmi, wife of V.V. Subramanian, a caste Hindu and a DMKfunctionary from Sayalkudi, had alleged in her petition that her daughter S. Prathiba, a physiotherapist,was kidnapped by S. Seenivasan, an engineer belonging to the Dalit community. A division benchcomprising Justices S. Rajeswaran and T. Mathivanan closed the case after Mrs. Prathiba appeared atthe court and submitted that she was married to Mr. Seenivasan since September 12, 2012. Mrs.Prathiba further told the judges that her mother had filed the case only to separate her from her husband.The couple was living in Odisha, where Mr. Seenivasan worked as an electrical engineer in a privatecompany, she said. The judges recorded her submissions and directed the petitioner to permit Mrs.Prathiba to go with her husband. They instructed the girl’s family not to harass the couple and closed thecase. (The Hindu 2/8/13)UK Dalits fear delay may kill law banning discrimination (2)LONDON: Dalits in Britain fear that the landmark legislation, calling for end to caste discrimination, mayget repealed even before its implementation as the time-table for the consultative process by the DavidCameroon government may run through to the summer of 2015. The House of Commons, through theEquality Act, had voted for legal protection of the estimated four lakh Dalits in UK, the first country outsideSouth Asia to legislate such a law. "The proposed timetable to finally implement the landmark law will runthrough to 2015 - and probably after the next general elections. This unprecedented prolongedconsultation means that the government can repeal the legislation before it is implemented. At this ratethe sunset clause - review of the legislation will take place before the legislation is even implemented,"UK-based Dalit Solidarity Network said. "There is no problem with a consultation period - and in fact it iswelcomed. But why is a consultation period of up to 2 years deemed necessary? This government's ownguidelines stipulate a 12 week period to be an optimum," it said. Recently, a Tory Minister was accused ofreneging on a pledge to end caste discrimination. "It certainly appears that the government's intention isto kick this important piece of legislation into the long grass," the Network said. Equalities minister HelenGrant said: "The consultation will focus purely on how they implement the law, not whether it isimplemented. It is vital that we get it right and that requires consultation with a wide range of groups." TheNetwork said discussions with the anti-legislation lobby had already taken place. "As far as we know atleast three meetings have taken place with the minister since the government agreed to activate the casteclause in the Equality Act. Why does our current government fear the anti-legislation lobby?" it said. Afterseveral U-turns, the British Parliament agreed in April to outlaw caste discrimination. In a letter to Hindugroups, which are opposed to the legislation, Grant said a safeguard had been introduced which wouldallow the government to remove caste discrimination from the statute book if reviews showed it is notnecessary. (Times of India 3/8/13)Activists condemn police brutality against Dalit girls (2)Mangalore: Alleged police laxity and brutality in dealing with the assault of two Dalit girls inGuruvanyankere, Belthangady taluk, for their dressing sense, drew anger from numerous Dalit activistshere on Sunday. Raising the issue at the Scheduled Castes/ Scheduled Tribes grievance meet, activistsdemanded to know why not filed cases were filed against the men or the policemen who had allegedlyassaulted them probed. “Even if someone objects to their dressing sense, who has the authority to beatthe girls up,” asked activist Sadashiv Urwastore. Similarly, Parvathi and other activists said Dalit girls invillages were being moral policed. As reported by The Hindu on July 30, the two sisters –one of them aminor – claimed to have been harassed by men on July 17 who had asked them to “come to a lodge”after they saw them wearing sleeveless tops and skirts. When spurned, the men assaulted them in public,accusing them of being prostitutes, and hurling casteist slurs. The girls were taken to Bethangady policestation, where they were berated, beaten, and charged for being prostitutes. They spent three days in jail


efore being released on bail. SP Abhishek Goyal said the case was “more complicated” than it wasportrayed, and said a total of three complaints – one accusing them of being prostitutes, another case ofthe same nature filed by a Dalit organisation there which also produced 400 signatures supporting thisclaim, and lastly, a counter-case by the girls against the men – had been received. “The ASP will give hisinquiry report within a week,” he said. When asked as to how the police could have jailed a minor forthree days, ASP T.P. Shivakumar said the “burden of proof” was with the accused, and “the police couldnot help it if the accused did not know the rules of Juvenile Justice.” (The Hindu 5/8/13)Caste panchayat ostracises 13 dalit families in Bhilwara (2)JAIPUR: A caste panchayat in a village in Bhilwara district ostracised thirteen dalit families and allegedlyforced them to leave their houses on suspicion of their involvement in thefts. The families are now livingoutside the village for the past few days. They approached the district administration officials followingwhich they were brought back to their houses under police security on Tuesday. According to the police,the families belong to nomadic Bhopa Nayak community. "Thirteen families belonging to this communitysettled in Shyopur village near Asind in the district about 20 years ago. These families had all theidentification documents with them," said an officer. Ratan Nath Kalbelia, a social activist said that onePappu Nayak was on his way home on August 1 when he was intercepted by one Kali Singh Rawat, aresident of the village. "Kali Singh got into a fight with Pappu Nayak over a petty issue. He beat up Pappuseverely. Pappu's family approached the police and lodged a complaint. It irked Kali Singh and othervillagers from the higher caste," said Ratan Nath. He added that Pappu was forced to withdraw thecomplaint. "A caste panchayat was called on August 3 in which it was decided that all the 13 familiesbelonging to Bhopa Nayak community will be ostracised," said Ratan Nath. Ratan Nath said that as perthe diktat of caste panchayat, other villagers were prevented from mingling with the dalit families. "In thepanchayat meeting, the community leaders decided that all the families would be forced to leave thevillage. It created panic among the members of the dalit families. They left the village and were staying ina makeshift arrangement in a nearby village. On August 3, we gave a memorandum to the districtcollector demanding action against the panchayat members who ostracised the families," said RatanNath. The administration officer said that the villagers suspected these families of being involved in theftsin the village. Sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) Jaiprakash Narayan said that the local police has beenasked to provide security to the families. (Times of India 7/8/13)Normal life hit in Odisha over death of dalit girl (2)Bhubaneswar: Normal life was hit in Odisha Saturday during a dawn-to-dusk hartal called by BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) blaming the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government for the death of a minor dalit girl, whowas set ablaze after a rape bid. Commuters were stranded as BJP workers resorted to road blockade andrail roko at many places during the 12-hour hartal as the party alleged that the 14-year-old girl fromMahakalpada area of Kendrapara district died on Thursday night due to the government’s apathy. In thestate capital, BJP activists blocked the track at Bhubaneswar railway station putting passengers intoimmense difficulty. The station was flooded with passengers with luggage as several long distance trainswere stopped. BJP workers also blocked roads at different areas including Khandagiri, Baramunda,Jayadev Vihar, Master Canteen, Rasulgarh square and Vani Vihar. Vehicles were stopped by theprotesters who also burnt tyres on the roads at several places to stall vehicular movement. Shops andbusiness establishments were closed in many localities during the hartal which remained peaceful so farwith no untoward incident reported from any place, a senior police official said. Similar reports werereceived from places like Cuttack, Berhampur, Sambalpur, Balasore, Baripada, Puri, Bhadrak andRourkela. The impact of the hartal was felt more in some areas of western Odisha and Mayurbhanj districtwhere life was paralysed. Besides closure of shops and disruption of public transport, schools, colleges,offices and banks remained closed in these areas, sources said. Elaborate arrangements were made by


the police to deal with any eventuality during the hartal. Police personnel were deployed at all sensitiveareas to prevent any untoward incident, they said. (Asian Age 10/8/13)Caste Hindus oppose Dalits' temple entry (2)NAMAKKAL: A temple belonging to the Hindu Religious and Charities Endowment Department (HR&CE)was sealed in the wee hours of Friday after a group of caste Hindus staged a dharna inside the temple,protesting against the move of the authorities to allow Dalits into the Kashiviswanathar temple atOduvankurichy. Sources said that the authorities took the decision as a precautionary measure to preventany untoward incident. A large number of police personnel have been deployed in the area to maintainpeace. According to Rasipuram tahsildar K Ayyavu, the temple was sealed around 2 am on Friday.Sources said that on Thursday, a group of caste Hindus squatted inside the temple stating that Dalitswould not be allowed to offer prayers at the temple. It may be recalled that earlier, during a meetingconvened by Namakkal Sub-Collector (in charge) Suryaprakash to discuss the issue of permitting Dalitsinto the temple, representatives of the caste Hindus walked out. Sources said that the Sub-Collector hadstressed that no one could bar Dalits from entering the temple belonging to the HR&CE. The meeting wasalso attended by the representatives of Dalits, including Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) districtsecretary M P Kumanan. Sources said that authorities convened the meeting following the direction givenby the National SC/ST Commission to permit Dalits into the temple on a petition submitted by IShanmugam of Oduvankurichy. Police registered a case under section 107 of CrPC and referred thematter to the Sub-Collector. Meanwhile, VCK leader Kumanan said that Dalits submitted a petition to theCollector on Friday seeking action to remove the seal and permit them entry into the temple. (New <strong>Indian</strong>Express 11/8/13)Fearing life threat, Dalit scholar Bharti to move Allahabad high court (2)LUCKNOW: Dalit scholar KanwalBharti has alleged that he and his family are facing a life threat inRampur. "We are regularly hounded by dubious-looking individuals knocking at our doors. My family ispassing sleepless nights," said Bharti. With no faith in the local police, he is now preparing to move theAllahabad high court for justice. Bharti was arrested on August 6 for his Facebook comment against theSamajwadi Party government on the suspension of young IAS officer Durga Nagpal. He was, however,released after the local court stated that on the basis of evidence provided by the police, no criminal casecould be made out against him. Now his family is the target. The dalit scholar, who returned to hisRampur house on Sunday after a two-day tour to Delhi, told TOI over phone that Azam Khan's menwanted him to leave the city for good. "But I will not, let them do whatever they want," he said on Sundayevening. Talking about his Delhi visit, Kanwal said that various organizations of writers and authors willstage a protest at Jantar Mantar over the manner in which the UP government was desperate to curbfreedom of speech. SP, Rampur, Umesh Kumar Singh, said that Kanwal hadn't lodged any complaint inconnection with any threats. "If we get a complaint, we would surely initiate necessary action," he said.Giving graphic details of the ways and means being adopted to scare the family, Kanwal said: "There aretimes when someone knocks at the door and asks for me. Despite being told that I am out of station, hewould come back half an hour later and asking for me again. He would inquire if I have gone alone andwhether am carrying my cellphone. When questioned in turn for the reasons for his query, he would saythat these days anything can happen to anybody," Kanwal said. "Now this is nothing but creating fear inthe minds of the family members. The irony is that I cannot even approach the police because they are alldancing to the tunes of the local MLA and minister Azam Khan," he said. Kanwal said he has prepared apetition against the police and was now preparing to move the Allahabad high court for the sake of hisfamily's security. "I am scared but I will not bow to such pressures. "In my petition I will also question theauthority with which the police have seized my desktop and storage devices without any mention of theseizures in the case diary. What will I do if tomorrow they plant some objectionable material in my


computer's hard disk and claim that it was loaded by me," he said. About Kanwal's desktop, the RampurSP said it had been sent to Lucknow for forensic examination. (Times of India 12/8/13)'Dalits can't wear footwear in Salem prison' (2)SALEM: An outfit has claimed that the Dalits are being discriminated against inside the Salem CentralJail. The activists alleged that while Dalits were being denied entry into prison offices wearing footwear,prisoners from the non-Dalit intermediary castes were being pampered by the prison administration.Condemning the discrimination and demanding an official inquiry into the caste-based discrimination, theTamilaga Vazhakaringargal Manavar Kootamaippu conducted a protest demonstration here on Monday.According to Santhiyur Parthiban, state president of the outfit, in Salem Central Jail except non-Dalitprisoners, others, including minorities, were not allowed to wear foot wear inside the prison office.Prisoners of caste-based political party were better treated by the jail authorities, he said. He further toalleges that the Prison Vigilance Police, who should inform higher officials about such practices, wereturning a blind eye. He said, the police were tacit supporters of discrimination. He said denial of entry intoa government office amounted to contravention of the law that prohibits anyone being denied entry into agovernment office with footwear and he added that, Dalit prisoners were only being relegated to isolationcells in the jail. While the cells occupied by Dalit prisoners have no basic amenities like drinking water,non-Dalits were provided better care. Human rights violations abound inside the prison with Dalits beingforced to take up harsh work like cooking without being paid for it, he said. When contraband was seizedin the prisons, they were being charged, he alleged. In the name of checks, Dalit prisoners were strippedand often put in isolation cells and were subjected to mental torture, he added. Apart from prisoners, Dalitprison staff were also facing discrimination, he said, and added, recently a woman staff was transferredon the basis of false charges. While others can get whatever they want for money inside the prison, Dalitscannot even have a minute extra during visiting hours with their kin or friends. Salem PrisonSuperintendent, however, denied that Dalit prisoners were discriminated and said prisoners werepunished equally when they misbehave in the prison. He said, discrimination charges were being made tojustify their mistakes. He also denied charges that Dalit prisoners were not allowed to wear footwear inthe prison office. A Sipson, state convenor, Odukkapattor Vidudhalai Munnani, a special invitee to theprotest said, as a prisoner himself for years, he knew for sure that discrimination existed in prisons inTamil Nadu; Salem prison in particular being notorious for such practices. But, more than caste-baseddiscrimination, the Prison Manual is seldom followed, leading to a host of human rights violations againstprisoners, he said. Unless intermediary community officials in Salem Prison are transferred there wouldbe no real change in the state of affairs, he said. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express 13/8/13)Doors of disputed Namakkal temple opens for Dalits amid tight security (2)NAMAKKAL: Several residents, mostly members of Scheduled Caste communities, of Oduvankurichivillage near Rasipuram in Namakkal district entered into the Kashi Viswanathar temple and offeredworship amid tight security on Tuesday. The temple, which was sealed on Thursday night followingtension after a group of caste-Hindus opposed the entry of Dalits into the shrine, was reopened onTuesday morning. “We removed the seal and opened the temple at 7.30 am. Members of SCcommunities entered the shrine and offered offered worship peacefully,” S Suryaprakash, Namakkal Sub-Collector (in charge), told Express. Heavy police security was posted around the temple as a group ofcaste-Hindus vehemently opposed the decision to allow Dalits into the temple, which was under thecontrol of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (HR&CE) Department. Top police officers,including Sanchay Kumar, DIG, Salem Range and SPs P Kannammal (Namakkal) and Sakthivel (Salem)camped at Oduvankurichi when the temple was opened for Dalits to offer worship on Tuesday, sourcessaid. However, caste-Hindu members belonging to seven different communities, strongly objected to theentry of Dalits and stayed away from visiting the temple on Tuesday. Officials expressed the hope that thesituation would become normal in a few days as a majority of the members of caste Hindu communities


had assured officials of cooperation for their move and noted that only a few were opposed to it. (New<strong>Indian</strong> Express 15/8/13)Dalit killed, 40 hurt for unfurling tricolour in Bihar village (2)SASARAM: A dalit villager was stoned to death and at least 40 people were injured, eight of themseriously, as a 500-strong mob of upper caste men attacked them for defying their diktat of not to unfurlthe tricolour in front of a temple of Sant Ravidas at Baddi village in Rohtas district, 160km from Patna, onIndependence Day. The deceased was identified as Vilas Ram. The assailants did not spare evenschoolchildren as they attacked them with rods and later threw some of the children down from the roof ahouse, where they had taken shelter, while the policemen allegedly looked the other way. Most of theinjured are elderly, women and school-going children. The seriously injured were referred to PMCH inPatna. Reports reaching the district HQ here said tension had been brewing in the upper caste-dominatedvillage for the last 15 days after the upper caste villagers decided to install a statue of freedom fighterNishant Singh and unfurl the tricolour on the small plot at the entrance of the Ravidas temple, wheredalits had been unfurling the national flag, on August 15. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the localpolice convened a meeting of both the sides at the Baddi police station on Wednesday. But the standoffcontinued as the upper caste villagers allegedly stuck to their decision and the dalits refused to bowdown. As a result of the assault on Thursday, a woman's pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Severalhouses of dalits and the Ravidas temple were partially torched. In a swift reaction, Rohtas SP VikasBurman suspended Baddi police station SHO Balwan Singh on the charge of dereliction of duty. Burmansaid 11 of the 35 named accused were arrested and the police were in the process of procuring propertyattachment warrants against the remaining accused. On Friday, state industries minister Renu Devivisited the village at chief minister Nitish Kumar's behest. Principal secretary (home) Amir Subhani and IG(weaker sections) Arivind Pandey also visited the spot and the hospital where some of the injured werebeing treated. Subhani said the Rohtas DM had been directed to cancel the firearms licences of all theaccused named in the case. They would be put on speedy trial. The deceased will get a compensation ofRs 4.5 lakh and the injured Rs 60,000 each. Rohtas district JD(U) president and Karakat MLA RajeshwarRaj, on his return from Baddi, said the incident could have been averted had the administration takenprecautionary measures. Local leaders of BSP and CPI (New Democracy) burned the effigy of chiefminister in protest against the incident. (Times of India 17/8/13)Government refuses to share information on Thangadh dalit killings (2)RAJKOT: Despite directions from Gujarat Information Commission (GIC), the state government hasrefused to share its findings on Thangadhdalit killings in police firing in September last year. Three dalityouths were killed in the incident that had sparked statewide protest against the police action. The effortsmade by Right to Information (RTI) and dalit rights activist Kirit Rathod to get the report have been stonewalled by various departments. Rathod had sought various details under RTI from the social justicedepartment in January <strong>2013</strong>. After the killings, the home department had set up a committee onSeptember 26, 2012, under the chairmanship of principal secretary, social justice and empowermentdepartment, Sanjay Prasad to investigate the killing of dalit youths in police firing in Thangadh town ofSurendranagar district. He was asked to submit the report within 30 days. "When I sought the reportunder RTI Act, the home department denied it and said it cannot be provided as the special branch of thedepartment is exempt from RTI Act. I simply can't understand how this report can be exempt?" Rathodsaid. Senior officials of the home department were not available for comments. Rathod had also soughtthe minutes of cabinet meetings, if any, on the issue. "It was revealed that there was no such cabinetlevel meeting," he said. He added that after the concerned department did not provide details withinstipulated time frame, he approached the GIC in this regard in June, <strong>2013</strong>."GIC also asked the concerneddepartments in July to provide details but I am yet to receive them. I will have to approach GIC again,''Rathod said. It was after protests by human rights and dalit groups that a FIR was lodged against the


accused police officials and investigation was handed over to CID Crime in the matter. (Times of India19/8/13)Dalits to gherao residence of CM over police inaction (2)Bhubaneswar: The National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NCDO) on Monday came down heavilyon the Jagatsinghpur district police administration for the inordinate delay in arresting the culprits involvedin the murder of dalit engineering student Abinash Behera at Paradip. “Though miscreants beat Abinashto death on July 15 this year at Paradip, the police are yet to arrest them. The police are also yet toregister cases under the SC and ST atrocity prevention laws against the accused and have onlyregistered a murder case,” said organisation president Ashok Kumar Mallick. Mallick warned that if theculprits are not nabbed within seven days then the organisation would gherao the Chief Minister’sresidence. Stating that the police administration is not taking prompt actions on dalit atrocity cases,Mallick said, “In 2012 and <strong>2013</strong>, more than 120 such cases were registered at various police stations inthe Jagatsinghpur district. In many cases, the district Superintendent of Police has appeared before theNational SC Commission for police inaction. “The case of Abinash is just an example of police apathytowards dalit people,” said Mallick and demanded Rs 20 lakh as compensation to Abinash’s family.(Pioneer 20/8/13)Meeting discusses boycott of Dalits (2)Bidar: The district administration organised a meeting at Jampad village in Bidar taluk on Friday in thebackdrop of the allegation that Dalits have been boycotted by other caste groups. GurupadappaNagamarapalli, MLA, appealed to residents to live in peace and harmony and not let minor incidentsdestroy peace in the village. Elders should ensure that issue were not blown out of proportion, he said.Mr. Nagamarapalli said another meeting of leaders of various communities would be held to decide thelocation of Ambedkar Bhavan as caste Hindus have objected to its construction saying the land could beused for a bus shelter. “I promise you that we will take a fair decision that will be acceptable to all. Weshould not approach courts and settle it amicably,” the MLA said. P.C. Jaffer, Deputy Commissioner,urged residents to resolve the issue through talks. “We should all understand that stoppingcommunication with a community or boycotts will not resolve any problem. They are not long-termsolutions. How long can the farmers get migrant labour from Andhra Pradesh? How long can acommunity sustain without getting work in their own village?,” he asked. Earlier, Dalits alleged that theywere being boycotted. However, leaders of other communities denied it. Govind Reddy, a resident, saidthat teashops, flour mills or cutting saloons were not closed to Dalits. However, Venkatesh Manik Reddysaid he had sent back some Dalit labourers from his farm after he found them abusing leaders of othercommunities. K. Thiyagarajan, Superintendent of Police asked farmers not to discriminate against Dalits.Santoshamma Pundalikappa, zilla panchayat president, and Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, zilla panchayat chiefexecutive officer were present. (The Hindu 24/8/13)Dalit author wages war against discrimination through literature (2)CHENNAI: Noted Marathi dalit writer Sharan Kumar Limbale first became conscious of his identity thenight his father, who belonged to an upper caste, tried to rape his mother. "My father never acknowledgedI was his son. One evening when he showed up at our doorstep I was excited thinking he had comehome for good. Little did I realise he had returned to get back at my mother for claiming I was his son,"said Limbale, who was seven years old at the time. His mother fought off the attempt and fled withLimbale. Ten years later, he returned to his decrepit village in Maharashtra's Solapur to take on thesystem that robbed him of his childhood. "I joined the 'Dalit Panther' movement in 1972. We fought ourway into a temple, forced open the doors of a school and stepped into a barber's shop to get a haircut - aprivilege previously denied to dalits," said the writer, who was in the city to attend a two-day poetryreading session conducted by Sahitya Akademi. Four decades on his fight continues. Limbale, best


known for his autobiographical novel Akkarmashi, says the dalit movement has moved on from fightingcaste-Hindus to take on a new avatar -- administrative casteism. "The government has reserved seats fordalits, but few take notice of the discrimination that happens after they get in. They are forced to sitseparately, often denied promotion, transferred frequently and suspended on flimsy grounds," said the56-year-old writer, pointing to the limited number dalits who occupy senior positions in the government.He pinned the blame on the country's political parties. "Our political system is only strengthening andreinforcing the caste system. They are validating the rot by distributing caste certificates. It just goes on toshow that despite making great strides in breaking the shackles of caste, people still continue todiscriminate in their minds," said Limbale. When asked if he was being unhappy with the prefix 'dalit', heshook his head. "I take pride in being called a dalit writer. Our literature is not a form of art, it is amovement. I identify myself as a writer of the movement. It is not written to entertain or amuse. It is aliterature of pain and struggle. We'll lose our identity if we are referred to as just writers," he said. Limbaleis against assessing dalit literature with the same criteria used for mainstream literature. "The criteriashould not be the same as our style, our problems, our ideology is different from the mainstream. It can'tbe judged by a person belonging to a different class." The English translation of Limbale's work, titled'The Outcaste' and 'Towards an Aesthetics of Dalit Literature' are considered one of the most importantworks on dalit literature. On the progress made in the dalit movements in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu,the author said he was averse to sub-categorising dalits. "Our pains and problems are the same. Theycompel us to come under the common umbrella of being a dalit irrespective of whether we are Tamil,Marathi or Punjabi. Language is often a barrier, but our problems help us surmount the hurdle," he said.(Times of India 26/8/13)Caste Hindus interfering in official work, alleges Dalit panchayat chief (2)MADURAI: A Dalit woman panchayat president on Monday filed a complaint with the police demandingaction against five caste Hindu members for causing her mental agony and not allowing her to performher official works. “If their torture continues, I have no other option except committing suicide,” saidVijayarani Muthaiah, the woman Dalit panchayat president of Kinni Mangalam village near Checkanuraniin Usilampatti taluk after submitting her complaint at the Madurai SP office here. Vijayarani Muthaiahclaimed in the petition that five Caste Hindus M Bharani Thevar, P Mani Thevar, A Mani Thevar and RPeriya Karuppa Thevar were often found sitting at Periya Nachi Temple located close to the panchayatoffice and verbally abused her using filthy language whenever she visited the office. “They scold me inderogatory words referring to my caste name,” Vijaya Rani said. Speaking to Express, she said thatthough the seven ward members of the panchayat cooperated with her, the five caste Hindus werecausing her trouble. “They are not allowing me to sit in the chair at my office,” she alleged. Nearly for oneand-halfyears, they did not allow her to sit in the chair. Only after she took up the issue with the districtcollector, they allowed her to sit in the chair for few days. But now, they were again preventing her fromusing the chair, she said. After receiving her complaint, the police said that they would investigate thecase and take action. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express 27/8/13)Leading in atrocities against Dalits, Haryana skips crucial seminar (2)CHANDIGARH: Haryana, where atrocities against dalits by members of the "upper castes" are reportedregularly, skipped a crucial seminar organised by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes inDelhi. According to sources, Haryana was supposed to be represented by Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar andsocial justice and empowerment minister Geeta Bhukkal at the day-long seminar to discuss socialdisparity and related issues. The seminar, 'National dialogue on social disparity', was chaired by Unionminister for social justice and empowerment Kumari Selja on Tuesday, who is from Haryana. NCSCchairman P L Punia's office confirmed that Bhukkal was invited and a consultant for the programme wasin touch with her. However, Bhukkal denied this. "The invitation might have come in routine mail. My staffsaid they had forwarded it to financial commissioner for further coordination as I was busy with


programmes in my constituency. But somebody from the department should have attended it," Bhukkalsaid. "I feel that I have missed such an important programme," she added. Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwarwasn't available for comment. His personal staff confirmed that he was aware of the event. Sources closeto Tanwar said as he was attending Parliament he could not attend the seminar. (Times of India 29/8/13)Ahmedabad: Dalit men allege beating by police, activists lodge complaint (2)AHMEDABAD: Three men belonging to the Dalit community were allegedly beaten up by the Ahmedabadrural police during Janmashtami festivities near Detroj. <strong>Social</strong> activists have given applications ofcomplaint to Ahmedabad rural superintendent of police, district collector and state human rightscommission on Saturday. According to members of Navsarjan, Ramesh Parmar, 45, Rajnikant Parmar,30, and Suhag Chavda, 28, residents of Dusana village in Mehsana district had been to Shobhasanvillage near Detroj on August 27 to visit a funfair during Janmashtami. They had parked their vehicle neara stall and had visited the fare. "When they came back, they were rounded up by the police. Befuddled,they enquired about the reason and were told that they had visited a gambling joint at the stall where theyhad parked their vehicle. When Ramesh Parmar tried to intervene, he was also charged for obstructing agovernment official to perform duty. The trio were taken to the police station and were beaten up badly fortwo days. They were also threatened against complaining to the magistrate when they were presented forbail," said Bharat Parmar, a family member of Ramesh Parmar. He stated that the police sub-inspectormisused his power and abused them. Two of the victims are still at the Civil Hospital in Mehsana, headded. The family members have reported the incident to various authorities for investigation. Detrojpolice said that the trio has been booked for gambling charges and the probe is on. (Times of India31/8/13)Dharmapuri case: Dalit youth's father says probe not going in right track (2)Chennai: The father of the Dalit youth, who was found dead in Dharmapuri some two months ago, onMonday submitted in the Madras High Court that the police probe into his son's death was not going inthe right track. T Elango, in his reply to the status report filed by Dharamapuri Superintendent of Police,alleged police were determined to close the case of his son's death as suicide. He alleged theinvestigation was being done with a malafide intention to create an opinion to the court that his soncommitted suicide after consuming alcohol. The Dharmapuri SP was unfair, unjust and not true to theConstitution, he alleged. Elango's son Ilavarasan, whose marriage to Hindu girl Divya had triggered anti-Dalit violence in three villages of Dharmapuri district in November last year, was found dead along arailway track in Dharmapuri on July 4, a day after the girl said she would never go back to him andinstead stay with her mother. He said not conducting an inquest near the scene of occurrence anddeliberately getting signatures on blank papers from his wife and daughter would expose the illegalmanner of conducting investigation. Narrating the sequence of events after the death of his sonIlavarasan, he alleged the local police were not even ready to investigate in different angles as to whetherthe alleged note of suicide was forcibly written or written by some others to conceal the murder of his son.After denying all the averments made in the status report, he said it was only just and necessary for a fairand impartial investigation to be conducted by appointing independent investigation officers includingforensic experts. Raising doubts on the death, several petitions were filed in the Madras High Court for asecond post-mortem which was ordered by the court. Dalit-outfit Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi chiefThirumavalavan's petition seeking to appoint 'Padma Bhushan' awardee Chandrasekharan as forensicinvestigator was dismissed by the High Court with an observation that it was left to the government totake a decision on the matter. (Zee News 2/9/13)BSP MP raises Vicky murder issue in Rajya Sabha (2)Jalandhar: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Rajya Sabha MP Avtar Singh Karimpuri has raised issue ofatrocities being committed against dalits especially in Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. Taking up


the case of Nathpal Dhilwan, a dalit, of Dhilwan village, Jalandhar; he said that Vijay Kumar Dhilwan, thenephew of Nathpal Dhilwan was allegedly murdered by the councilor of Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)during post Vienna protests in Jalandhar in 2009. Karimpuri further said that Nathpal was the mainwitness in Vijay murder case and has also been pursuing the case for last for years. Rajya MP also saidthat as police under pressure of ruling SAD submitted inquiry report in the court to cancel the FIR againstSAD councilor registered under section 302, but the court rejected it and now the murder case is beingpursued by Nathpal against SAD councilor in the court. MP further said that Vicky Dhilwan, who was alsoa dalit, was murdered on August 16 and Nathpal was framed in this case as he was the main witnesses.“The family members of Vicky were demanding probe into the role of the driver of SAD councilor in themurder case”, he said by adding that the police are not ready to probe into his role. He added thatsimilarly a dalit sarpanch Desraj was abused and harassed by a feudal NRI after the sarpanch of villageKhangura, Phagwara refused to follow the diktat of the NRI. The SC sarpanch could not bear pressure ofNRI and committed suicide by jumping before the train, he said. He said that the police registered FIRagainst the NRI only after BSP held protest in Phagwara, but did not arrest NRI till date. BSP membersaid that the center government should intervene in the cases to stop victimization of the dalits in thestate where SAD BJP government is in power. Karimpuri further told that in Jind district of Haryana, a dalitgirl was abducted, raped and murdered but her family had to sit on dharna to get justice. In this case too,the police are pressuring the family members of the girl to withdraw the case, he added. (HindustanTimes 4/9/13)Dalit woman draws water from well in upper caste area, thrashed (2)KENDRAPARA (Odisha): A dalit woman was allegedly beaten up by members of upper caste for drawingpotable water from a government-dug deep tube well in their area at a village in Odisha's Kendraparadistrict, police said on Wednesday. The woman faced the wrath of upper caste groups in Pikirali village,about 25km from here, on Monday as lower caste groups are not allowed to draw water from these wells,they said. About 10 dalit families of the village were depending on one tubewell in their locality. But sincelast month, the sole tubewell in Dalit Sahi was defunct and scheduled caste persons were forced tosubsist on polluted water of a pond. Driven by compulsion, a dalit woman Kalpana Sethi (25) decided tofetch water from a tubewell in front of the house of an upper caste person, Bhamara Jena, for which someupper caste persons assaulted her and took away her bucket, police said. The woman yesterday filed anFIR against Bhamara, Umakanta Jena and Kishor Jena (all belonging to the upper caste) in the localpolice station and alleged that they hurled abusive language and assaulted her for drawing water from thevillage tubewell. The woman also alleged that some influential upper caste persons have been preventingthe Dalits, including women and children, to take water from the village tubewell. Earlier also, upper castemembers abused some dalits for using the tubewell to draw water but the frightened people did not lodgeany FIR against them, Sethi claimed. "Acting on the FIR lodged by the complainant, cases under sections354, 294, 341, 506 of IPC and section 3 of SC and ST (atrocity prevention) Act have been registeredagainst persons named in the FIR. The matter is being investigated," said Kendrapara sub-divisionalpolice officer (SDPO) Nrusingh Charana Swain. (Times of India 5/9/13)Sultanpur: Cong seeks probe into arson, rehabilitation of Dalit victims (2)Lucknow: Congress Thursday demanded rehabilitation for 22 Dalit families who were displaced fromDehli Mubarakpur village of Sultanpur district last week after their huts were allegedly torched by asection of the minority community from the same village. Congress has demanded probe into the incidentby a commissioner level officer and action against local administration for their "lackadaisical attitude".Oninstructions from the party high-command, a five-member team comprising senior party leaders visitedthevillage. "After interacting with the displaced family members as well as members of minoritycommunity, we found the entire incident could have been avoided if local administration had reacted fast,"said Siraj Mehdi, Congress leader, who was part of the team. "Villagers told us the tension was prevailing


in the area for some time and on August 31, clashes between the two communities began around 7:30pmin which members from both the communities were injured and a 55-year-old Ram Sundar was beaten todeath," Mehdi said. Villagers told the Congress leaders that after the clash, over 25 huts in the Dalit bastiwere torched, forcing villagers to take shelter in the Kutubpur Upper Primary School of the neighbouringvillage. "Their huts with their belongings and foodgrains were set on fire. Some of the livestock was alsokilled", said Maroof Khan, part of team said. "The incident took place over a land dispute. Police wasdeployed in the area. The situation is under control. FIR has been lodged," said Sanjay Prasad,Commissioner Faizabad division. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 6/9/13)Put atrocity cases against Dalits on fast track: Verka (2)The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has favoured setting up of fast track courts toredress the cases of atrocities on Dalits in the country. Raj Kumar Verka, vice-chairman of NCSC, toldreporters here on Friday evening that conviction rate in the cases atrocities was less than 5%. “The trendis worrisome and the country needs a mechanism for speedy disposal of cases. It will help in stepping upthe morale of the oppressed vicitmised by the caste biased persons,” Verka said. He was in the city torelease a book “Shri Guru Ravidas Mahakavyam” written by Dr Mahavir Prasad. The function wasorganised at Akhil Bhartiya Sahitya Parishad here. Verka said the condition of Dalit atrocities in Haryanawas discouraging and strongly demanded formation of a panel to protect the rights of Dalits. He said hehad met state chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda twice to press for the formation of the committee.“Constitution of an SC committee is the need of the hour in Haryana. If the state can have rights panel foranimals (as the Cow Commission) then why not one for the SCs,” he said. Vice-chairman said in Haryanahardly 10% of the cases of Dalit atrocities were reported and a dedicated panel would ensure redressingthe grievances of social oppressed classes. (Hindutan Times 7/9/13)Dalit ex-sarpanch 'beaten up' by her rivals at gram sabha meet (2)Mumbai: A former woman sarpanch was allegedly beaten up by her rivals as she asked questions duringa gram sabha meeting in Waghe-Bhabalgaon (Kaig) village in Beed district on Saturday. The police haveregistered a case against 14 persons under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act. The meeting had been convened by sarpanch Chhaya Mane at a village temple to discussa water scheme. According to reports, former sarpanch Kalavati Sopan Jadhav, a Dalit, and hersupporters asked the gram sabha to give details on the expenditure related to schemes for Dalit residentsof the village. Kalavati's rivals asked her to keep quiet as they had other items on the agenda to discuss.This led to an altercation between the two groups, said the Kaig police. Senior inspector Nandkumar Patilsaid: "We have lodged a complaint against 14 persons under SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act." Intheir complaint, Kalavati and her supporters said they were beaten up and confined inside the temple,adding that chutney powder was sprayed into their eyes and abusive words were used against them.However, the Mane group came up with a counter complaint against Kalavati and her supporters for"outraging the modesty of women", said the police officer. He said: "Mane's supporters have said therivals sprayed red chilli powder on them. Claims and counter claims are going on." The police said noneof the villagers was severely injured, adding that the situation was under control. Confirming the fightbetween the women workers from both groups, eyewitnesses said the women hurled abuses and pulledhair of each other. According to sources, most of the gram sabha members represent the ruling NCP.What triggered the ugly fight between the two women groups supported by their male colleagues was anissue related to a water project… (India Express 9/9/13)Dalit woman draws water from well in upper caste area, thrashed (2)KENDRAPARA (Odisha): A dalit woman was allegedly beaten up by members of upper caste for drawingpotable water from a government-dug deep tube well in their area at a village in Odisha's Kendraparadistrict, police said on Wednesday. The woman faced the wrath of upper caste groups in Pikirali village,


about 25km from here, on Monday as lower caste groups are not allowed to draw water from these wells,they said. About 10 dalit families of the village were depending on one tubewell in their locality. But sincelast month, the sole tubewell in Dalit Sahi was defunct and scheduled caste persons were forced tosubsist on polluted water of a pond. Driven by compulsion, a dalit woman Kalpana Sethi (25) decided tofetch water from a tubewell in front of the house of an upper caste person, Bhamara Jena, for which someupper caste persons assaulted her and took away her bucket, police said. The woman yesterday filed anFIR against Bhamara, Umakanta Jena and Kishor Jena (all belonging to the upper caste) in the localpolice station and alleged that they hurled abusive language and assaulted her for drawing water from thevillage tubewell. The woman also alleged that some influential upper caste persons have been preventingthe Dalits, including women and children, to take water from the village tubewell. Earlier also, upper castemembers abused some dalits for using the tubewell to draw water but the frightened people did not lodgeany FIR against them, Sethi claimed. "Acting on the FIR lodged by the complainant, cases under sections354, 294, 341, 506 of IPC and section 3 of SC and ST (atrocity prevention) Act have been registeredagainst persons named in the FIR. The matter is being investigated," said Kendrapara sub-divisionalpolice officer (SDPO) Nrusingh Charana Swain. (Pioneer 11/9/13)Dalit kids denied Ganesh worship; case registered (2)KENDRAPADA: The police on Tuesday registered a case against three youths under the ScheduledCaste and Tribe (Atrocity Prevention) Act, 1973 following a complaint that a group of dalit students,including girls, were not permitted to offer prayer to Lord Ganesh in a Government-run school inKendrapada district. Over 50 dalit children studying at the Chakada-Gogua High School in theMahakalapada area were allegedly disallowed to break coconuts and offer prayer to Lord Ganesh whileupper caste students were allowed to do it during the Ganesh Puja on Monday. A separate probe by theSchool and Mass Education Department has also been ordered into the casteist episode. KendraparaCollector Niranjan Nayak said the administration has taken a serious view of the incident. Directives havebeen served on the School and Mass Education authorities to conduct an unbiased inquiry into thereported denial of Puja rights to dalit children. Dalit leader and president of Ambedkar-Lohia VicharManch Rabindra Nath Sethi on Tuesday sought immediate arrest of the perpetrators of the alleged crime.The dalit children are deeply hurt by the caste-discrimination act in a Government-run educationalinstitution, he said. (Pioneer 12/9/13)Dalits of Ragimaruru to get houses (2)Hassan: There is some relief to Dalits of Ragimaruru village in Araklgud taluk, many of whom used towork as bonded labourers for landlords until recently. The Hassan district administration has respondedto their problems and will provide them benefits in the form of houses, toilets, roads, water supply anddrainage system, apart from ensuring that 21 of their children, who had discontinued studies owing tofinancial problems, will continue their education. On August 15, The Hindu had reported about humanbondage system prevailing in the village. Around 40 Dalits of the village had been working as bondedlabourers for many years to clear loans taken from landlords. Following the news report, DeputyCommissioner and other senior officers of the district visited the village and took stock of the conditionsthat forced Dalits to work as bonded labourers. Staff of the <strong>Social</strong> Welfare Department conducted a doorto-doorsurvey in the village to identify school dropouts. They found that 21 children had discontinuedstudies two–three years ago. Now, they have been admitted to government schools and colleges andalso provided accommodation in hostels run by the <strong>Social</strong> Welfare Department. “Among the 21, eight arepre-matric students, 11 are PU students, one is a B.A. student and another ITI student. All of them havebeen provided hostel facility,” said H.V. Nagaraj, District <strong>Social</strong> Welfare Officer. The department hasworked out a proposal to construct roads, provide water supply and drainage system in the village at acost Rs. 16 lakh. “We have sufficient funds in the Hassan Zilla Panchayat to take up these works. Theproposal has been sent to the Commissioner of <strong>Social</strong> Welfare for approval,” he said. Arkalgud Taluk


Panchayat has prepared a Rs. 48-lakh action plan to take up works in the village under the MahatmaGandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act so that those in need work could be offered jobs. Thisis to discourage poor people from opting to work for landlords at meagre salaries. Officials have identified51 families to sanction toilets and 53 families for providing houses under different schemes. Also, eightyouths have been chosen for training in computer usage, six for driving training and eight for training insewing. Mr. Nagaraj said Dalits of the village were very poor. “Many children had discontinued studies tohelp their parents earn a living. They are all now studying. The department will bear their education fee,”he said. V. Anbukkumar, Deputy Commissioner of Hassan, has constituted a committee under thechairmanship of Srividya, Assistant Commissioner of Sakleshpur subdivision, to file a report on theprevalence of bonded labour system in Ragimaruru. The committee has held meetings with residents ofthe village. So far, 28 Dalits have appeared before the committee. The committee will submit a reportafter completing its inquiry. (The Hindu 13/9/13)1 arrested for driving minor dalit girl to immolate self in Haryana (2)KAITHAL: A youth has been arrested on Monday for allegedly driving a 14-year-old dalit girl to immolateherself in Haryana's Kaithal district. The Girl immolated herself in Kalayat on Sunday. A case has beenregistered against Amit Kumar (19) and Vikram (17) for allegedly harassing the victim. Both the accusedare also from the Dalit community. The girl set herself on fire after pouring kerosene over her on Sundayevening. She died on way to hospital. A team from the National Commission for the Scheduled Castes(NCSC) visited Kalayat on Monday accompanied by the Kaithal superintendent of police, to look into thedetails of the incident and seek quick action against those responsible for it. Assuring support to thefamily members of the victim, NCSC team also demanded compensation for them. The scheduledcommission director Raj Kumar Channena, who visited the girl's family, said, "We met the familymembers and assured them of proper action the accused. We also promised to provide them policeprotection for their safety. I have asked the Kaithal SP to ensure arrest of the accused and also givesecurity cover to the victim's family." Kaithal SP Kuldeep Yadav said, "A case against the accused hasbeen registered and Amit has been arrested. We hope to nab Vikram soon. As told by NCSC director,police protection will be given to the family of the girl on priority." The girl's father has mentioned in hiscomplaint to the police that both the accused used to harass his daughter. "On being pressured by thevillagers, the boys stopped teasing her for a while. But they again started tormenting her due to which mydaughter got depressed and killed herself as she was not able to bear the humiliation at being molestedeveryday," he alleged. (Times of India 17/9/13)Steady rise in inter-caste marriages involving dalits (2)NEW DELHI: Maharashtra has notched a four-fold increase in inter-caste marriages involving dalits, afigure that points to liberalizing social values if not a radical makeover. The growing inter-caste marriagesin Maharashtra tie in with the jump in national figures. According to figures available with the Centre, thenumber of people tying the knot with dalits is constantly going up, touching 9,623 in 2012 from 7,617 in2011 and 7,148 in 2010. While the national statistics are on the up, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh andKerala appear to be the top examples in the phenomenon long suggested by social reformers as the besttool to weaken the barriers of caste segregation. To encourage the trend, the Centre pays up to Rs50,000 to each inter-caste couple that has one spouse as dalit. Maharashtra seems to be ahead of otherstates in taking to the liberal tradition, with 2,296 marriages between dalits and non-dalits in 2012. Therise appears sharp when compared with the meager 563 marriages in 2011 and 628 in 2010. In fact, thestate has made a rally after the tally fell to three figures from 1,050 in 2009 and 1,017 in 2008. Thenumbers, though small when compared to the population, are only of couples that come forward todeclare the marriage and claim the incentive -- obviously belonging to lower-middle class strata.Observers view it as a "representative trend". K Raju, former IAS officer and head of the ScheduledCastes cell of Congress, said, "It is a positive sign that indicates greater sense of acceptance of inter-


caste marriages and waning prejudices. It is one of the ways to make society casteless. It should begiven robust support systems." Andhra is top of the heap with 3,040 marriages in 2012, compared to1,805 in 2011 and 1,641 in 2010. Kerala clocked 2,454 inter-caste marriages, a healthy jump from 1,040,1,000 and 996 in the previous three years. Interestingly, Tamil Nadu in 2011 notched 2,750 marriages, upfrom 2,356 in 2010. The state witnessed violence in July after a dalit boy from Dharmapuri married aVanniyar-OBC girl, a love affair that ended in social unrest with groom Ilavarasan found dead on therailway tracks in mysterious circumstances. The stats appear to bear out the trend of caste hostility infeudal societies - with Haryana reporting the highest annual figure of 160, Himachal Pradesh (232),Madhya Pradesh (232), Punjab (252) and Rajasthan (130) over the last five years. (Times of India19/9/13)After long struggle, dalits draw water from village tank (2)VIRUDHUNAGAR: Two years after a water tank was built in the village, the dalits of V Muthulingapuramvillage in Virudhunagar district managed to draw water from the tank for bathing on Saturday. For the pasttwo years, non-dalits of the village were preventing the dalits from bathing in the tank water. After a seriesof initiatives by the Untouchability Eradtication Front, the dalits broke the virtual wall to the tank andsucceeded in their struggle. Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front's (TNUEF) Virudhunagar districtsecretary S Gnanaguru said that the water tank was built with the panchayat funds in 2011-12. Thevillage has about 70 dalit families and 400 non-dalit families. When the dalits went to the tank to take bathsoon after it was built, the non-dalit youth prevented them. When dalits insisted on taking bath, some ofthe non-dalits went to the extent of emptying the tank. The issue was brought to the light of the TNUEFwhen they went on a field visit to the villages of Virudhunagar. Subsequently, TNUEF announced that itwould stage a protest on September 30 and would ensure dalits's rights to take bath with the tank water.However, district administration officials called for a peace meeting in the village where representatives ofdalits and no-dalits participated. The officials warned non-dalits of stern action for following suchdiscriminatory practices and instructed them not to obstruct dalits from using the water tank. Soon afterthe peace talk, a group of dalit youth went to the tank and took bath, celebrating the success of their twoyear-longstruggle. During the peace meeting, the dalits also alleged that there was no proper road to thecrematorium and that the water from borewell meant for their residences was being tapped by non- dalits.The officials immediately said that road to the crematorium would be laid and that measures to diganother borewell would be taken. (Pioneer 21/9/13)After long struggle, dalits draw water from village tank (2)VIRUDHUNAGAR: Two years after a water tank was built in the village, the dalits of V Muthulingapuramvillage in Virudhunagar district managed to draw water from the tank for bathing on Saturday. For the pasttwo years, non-dalits of the village were preventing the dalits from bathing in the tank water. After a seriesof initiatives by the Untouchability Eradtication Front, the dalits broke the virtual wall to the tank andsucceeded in their struggle. Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front's (TNUEF) Virudhunagar districtsecretary S Gnanaguru said that the water tank was built with the panchayat funds in 2011-12. Thevillage has about 70 dalit families and 400 non-dalit families. When the dalits went to the tank to take bathsoon after it was built, the non-dalit youth prevented them. When dalits insisted on taking bath, some ofthe non-dalits went to the extent of emptying the tank. The issue was brought to the light of the TNUEFwhen they went on a field visit to the villages of Virudhunagar. Subsequently, TNUEF announced that itwould stage a protest on September 30 and would ensure dalits's rights to take bath with the tank water.However, district administration officials called for a peace meeting in the village where representatives ofdalits and no-dalits participated. The officials warned non-dalits of stern action for following suchdiscriminatory practices and instructed them not to obstruct dalits from using the water tank. Soon afterthe peace talk, a group of dalit youth went to the tank and took bath, celebrating the success of their twoyear-longstruggle. During the peace meeting, the dalits also alleged that there was no proper road to the


crematorium and that the water from borewell meant for their residences was being tapped by non- dalits.The officials immediately said that road to the crematorium would be laid and that measures to diganother borewell would be taken. (Times of India 22/9/13)Food security law may leave out many dalits, tribals (2)NEW DELHI: A good number of dalits and tribals may be left out of the ambit of the ambitious FoodSecurity Act, with the socio-economic caste census reporting lesser number of households of the twocommunities than found by the decennial census, a fraught prospect that has led to jitters in thegovernment. As per the preliminary figures of socio-economic caste census (survey),1702 tehsils across27 states have fewer SCs and STs than found in the decennial population census 2011. The censusfigures of SC/ST population exceed the survey numbers by 1%.It implies that fewer SCs/STs would bepart of the poverty list to be shortlisted by the much-awaited survey. Once finalized, the survey is to serveas the blue book of poor households for entitlement schemes and its first big use would be in theimplementation of food security scheme that Congress has called a "game-changer".The discrepancy hasbeen found in the poorest states like Bihar (124 tehsils), Madhya Pradesh (163), Odisha (132) as also inAndhra Pradesh (450) and Maharashtra (154). However, the absolute number of households in Andhra isnot high because the tehsils are small in size, sources said. According to sources, rural developmentminister Jairam Ramesh has shot off letters to 26 chief ministers and the administrator of Daman and Diu,seeking proactive initiative to detect omissions. The census-survey gap in population figures of SCs/STsis seen as sensitive since it involves the sections more likely to be poor and obvious candidates for thepoverty list. Being SC/ST is also one of the seven deprivation indicators to rank the surveyed householdsin the poverty index. The fear of SCs falling through the cracks of identification process made socialjustice minister Selja to recently urge the Planning Commission that dalits should be deemed to be poorexcept those paying income tax and government servants among them. The RD ministry stumbled uponthe possible underreporting of SC/ST population when it did a comparative study between the survey andthe census as part of cross-checking. While the fewer numbers in socio-economic survey could be owingto migration or absence of the household at the time of enumeration, the RD ministry has urged the statesthat a revision be undertaken to ensure that not a single family of the poorest section is left out. As theeasiest way out, states have been asked to ensure that all SC/ST households participate in the gramsabha meetings to cross-check the findings of the survey so that those left out can file objections. (Timesof India 23/9/13)Dalit girl raped by known persons, no arrest yet in Haryana (2)New Delhi: Rubbing salt into their wound, the Station House Officer of a police station in Haryana’s Sirsidistrict refused to register a complaint of rape made by relatives of a 19-year-old Dalit girl, who was gangrapedon Saturday allegedly by three boys from the dominant caste, all known to her. None of theaccused has been arrested yet. In fact, “when the girl mentioned the names of the boys, a woman policeofficer intimidated her into not revealing their names,” said Rajat Kalsan, advocate with Human RightsLaw Network, who gave her version of the incident. The first B.A student was was waiting at a bus stopon her way to college when the three boys, riding a car, offered to give her a lift. But they took her to anisolated spot and took turns to rape her. Then they drove to another location and were attempting to rapeher again when one of the boys got a call on his cellphone. “The caller said the relatives of the girl hadgone to the police and they [the boys] might get into trouble,” Mr. Kalsan told The Hindu. On hearing thephone message, the boys forced her to take a sedative and drove off. The girl’s relatives later found herunconscious at a secluded location and went to the Ellenabad police station but the SHO refused toregister a complaint of rape. When the relatives and local activists protested, an FIR was filed underSection 365 (kidnap) of the <strong>Indian</strong> Penal Code. The girl was then taken to a hospital in Sirsa for medicolegalinspection, where, according to the advocate, she was subjected to a two-finger test. The SupremeCourt has held the conduct of this test on victims of sexual assault intrusive and advised the government


against it. People accompanying the girl were horrified and decided to take her to the Post Graduate<strong>Institute</strong> of Medical Sciences in Rohtak for an examination. Mr. Kalsan said he would move the HighCourt if the the police tried to scuttle the case. (The Hindu 25/9/13)Dalit suicide: Atrocity charge against GIDC officer not applicable, rules HC (2)Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court (HC) has prima facie taken a view that the charges of caste-basedatrocity levelled against an officer of the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) inGandhinagar with reference to the suicide of a Dalit clerk earlier this month are not applicable. The courtobserved this while acting on a quashing petition moved by one of the three accused officers in the case.Based on a complaint lodged by the brother of the deceased, the officer and two others had been bookedfor abetment to suicide by Gandhinagar police under the provisions of the IPC and Scheduled Castes &Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocity) Act, commonly known as the Atrocity Act. Naresh Chavda, aclerk with the GIDC, had committed suicide by consuming insecticide on September 2 in Udyog Bhavan.Naresh's brother, Raju, had lodged a complaint, accusing three officers for the suicide of his brother. Thepolice registered an FIR against them. In his FIR, Raju named the three officers as Pathak, Vijay Shahand Samir Vakil. Issuing notices to state government and Raju, the court has posted the matter for furtherhearing on October 10. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 26/9/13)MP: Dalits told to get clicked with dead animals for wards’ scholarship (2)Indire: Finding no way out, the Dalits in Dahi block of Dhar district are now busy in getting theirphotographs clicked in front of dead animals as per ‘order’ by the local tehsildar. The photographs will actas a ‘proof ’ and help their wards avail scholarships of ` 1,850 per year under Ashurakshit Dhandho MeinLage Parivaar Ke logo Ke Vidhyarthiyon Kee Purva Matric Scholarship scheme of the state However,such a clause had never been put while filling forms. “I have made this ‘clause’ for my personalsatisfaction. How would I believe that a person is from that particular community? I have not stoppedanyone from signing but demanded the photographs as proof. There is no such clause of the governmentbut I have to do this to ensure there is no fraud,” said tehsildar Dahi DK Dubey. Meanwhile, dissent isbrewing among the community people. Some are compelled to click photographs for the sake of thefuture of their children, while others have decided not to draw the scholarship, citing that the clause is an‘insult’ to their community. Bharat, the representative of the community, said this was for the first time theclause was added. “Our children get ` 1,850 as scholarship from the government every year and thisamount is enough for us. However, most of us are not going to certify the form because the tehsildar isasking for a photograph while doing the act,” he said. Shaane, a resident of Piplod village of the block,has gone to certify the documents for about five times. “The tehsildar is asking for a photograph as proof.We have a certificate of the village panchayat, but he refused to sign without the photograph,” Shaaneadded. Another member of the community, Raval Singh, said the tehsildar’s order has insulted ourcommunity. There are more than 250 children from this community in about 150 families in the block andall will suffer if this clause continues to be in place. The tehsildar’s ‘demand’ has agitated the dalits asthey virtually have to plead photographers to get their pictures with dead animals. At least a dozenenraged members of the community have faxed a letter to district collector complaining about the clauseon Thursday. (Hindustan Times 28/9/13)Four held for ostracising DalitsDHARMAPURI: Four persons were arrested here on Friday on charges of ostracising Dalits. Police saidK. Maadhu (45) alias Muthukan, milk procurer from a private dairy, M. Ramamurthy (38), G. Saravanan(35), who owns grocery shops and P. Peraman (51) owner of a bunk stall at Mahendramangalam villagewere arrested on charges of socially boycotting 170 Dalit families living in two colonies in the village.Sources said the problem arose when Dalits started putting up huts to oppose caste Hindus who hadplanted mango saplings a few days ago on a two-acre land belonging to Basaweswara Temple. It was


alleged that the caste Hindus were planting the saplings to prevent land from being acquired fordistribution among Adi Dravidars. Already two acres of temple land had been acquired by the governmentfrom Hindu Religious and Endowment Board and distributed among 36 Adi Dravida families. The HinduReligious and Charitable Endowments Department removed the saplings and the huts, and put up aboard cautioning against such activities. Eight persons, four from each community, were arrested andremanded. After this, the caste Hindus started boycotting the Dalits by not procuring milk for a private milkdepot owned by a caste Hindu and stopped providing groceries from three shops of caste Hindus. Basedon a petition lodged by V. Madhaiyan (38) of a Dalit colony, Mahendramangalam police have arrested thefour caste Hindus and registered a case under Sections 505 (2) (promoting enmity between communities)and 3 (X and XIV) of SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. All the four were produced before the PalacodeMagistrate and remanded. (The Hindu 29/9/13)Caste clashes trigger violence in Govt Law College (2)COIMBATORE: Four dalit students of Government Law College, Coimbatore, were brutally assaulted bya group of non-dalit students and some hired goons with deadly weapons inside the college premises onMonday afternoon. The armed gang damaged three motorcycles and burnt another two-wheeler. Theyvandalized the student hostel and managed to escape in two vehicles before police arrived on the scene.More than 50 police personnel were deployed at the college campus and the college principal declared aholiday on Tuesday. The injured students have been identified as Murugesan, Anandaraj, Azhagurajaand Kalaiyarasan. Murugesan, a second year student of BABL, was assaulted by the gang with a sickle inhis classroom. Anandaraj and other dalit students, who were near the main gate of the college, werechased by the armed gang and they ran towards the student hostel. Anandaraj had locked the main doorof the hostel. But the gang damaged the door and continued to assault him. Another dalit student,Azhaguraja, was attacked with a sword while he was entering the college campus. He sustained injurieson the left side of his chest. Kalaiyarasan sustained minor injuries on his forehead. Anandaraj,Azhaguraja and Murugesan have been admitted at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) andKalaiyarasan received treatment as an outpatient. "Students from Thevar, Gounder and Vanniyarcommunities have formed a non-dalit student's forum inside the college campus and political parties aresupporting them. The dalit students are unable to roam freely outside the college campus," said astudent. Consequently, the 45 dalit students plan to get their transfer certificate from the collegemanagement. M Sudhir, principal, Government Law College, notified the Vadavalli police station when theviolence broke out. Immediately ADSP P Muthuraj, Perur sub-division DSP Thangadurai, Vadavalliinspector (in charge) Vivekanandan, Madukkarai police inspector Vinod and other police officers rushedto the spot. But the culprits escaped before the officers arrived. A motorcycle was damaged by the armedgang and it was found in front of the college main entrance. Another motorcycle was burnt near thestudent's hostel. Two more motorcycles parked inside the hostel campus were also damaged. "There wasprevious enmity between students who belonged to different communities. We have deployed policepersonnel and the culprits will be arrested soon," said DSP Thangadurai. "We have declared one dayleave on Tuesday. We hope to solve the problem within a couple of days. We will suspend the studentswho indulged in the attack," said M Sudhir, principal of the college. The violence was triggered after twostudents of BABL had a fall out on Friday. Sargunam, a second year dalit student of BABL had previousenmity with Nishanth as he did not like being teased by Nishanth and his friends. On September 27, a fewseniors intervened and patched things up between them. On Saturday, six students attacked Sargunamand his friend Pradeep Kumar with an iron rod and wooden logs inside the college campus. Meanwhile, atwelve member gang on Sargunam's side attacked Nishanth and five others. Based on the complaint,Vadavalli police registered a case against 18 students from both the sides. All of them have beensuspended by the college management. (Times of India 1/10/13)‘A conspiracy of silence against Dalit victims’ (2)


New Delhi: In Gujarat’s Mehsana district, Dalits cannot sell milk to cooperatives as it comes from ‘Dalit’cows; in Rajasthan’s Ajmer, a Dalit woman is branded a witch, beaten and ostracised from the village; inOrissa’s Kandhamal, a Dalit girl was trafficked for sex and in Haryana, minor Dalit girls are gang rapedevery other day by dominant or upper caste men. Each time these victims of caste atrocities tried toregister a complaint, they were threatened, coerced and counter cases were slapped against not onlythem but also civil society organisations and lawyers working with them. Medical reports of rape survivorswere routinely fudged and the police refused to register appropriate FIRs. The violence committed onDalit women’s bodies was gruesome, to say the least. These facts came to light when victims of 45 suchcases, mostly Dalit women from nine States across the country, deposed before an eight-member jury ofa National tribunal over two days in the Capital. After listening to the cases, jury member Farah Naqvi,National Advisory Council said these stories were a wake up call. “I would be terrified to fight the battlesthese women have taken up. Let’s not tiptoe around this or try to be polite; we are a casteist society,deeply embedded in caste, class and community structures. We have to say loudly and without shamethat our police, institutions and administration are casteist. If you are casteist, keep your poison toyourself. Do not poison your profession with it. The bottom line has to be accountability and we need tofirst fix it. Then begins the longer battle of ridding our society of casteism,” she said. Lawyer HenriTiphagne of the People’s Watch, another jury member, spoke about the conspiracy of silence thatofficials, medical personnel, public prosecutors practiced. He said their combined callousness andnexusmarginalised and pushed all these victims to the periphery. In the context of the discourse aroundrape in the country, he said it was important to take cognisance of the fact that violence against Dalitwomen was of a ‘special’ kind. There is wanton negligence of officials at all levels– right fromconstabulary to superintendent– and there has been a failure of proper implementation of the ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, said Asha Kowtal of All India Dalit MahilaAdhikar Manch. “The SC/ST Act should undergo a change to take into account new forms ofdiscrimination that are coming up: in NREGA, health facilities, contracts, tenders and land distribution.Dalit Christians in Kandhamal are unable to take recourse to the Act and they must be brought within itsambit. National and State human rights institutions are either insensitive or don’t have resources to takeup these cases,” said Henri, adding that the law proceeds as if the victim does not exist. “There needs tobe proper rehabilitation and relocation of victims in halfway homes.” P. Sivakami, writer and activist fromTamil Nadu, pointed out that most victims were vulnerable in deep-rooted poverty and landlessness andsaid they should be socially and economically empowered to be able to fight against these atrocities. “Thelandless are meek victims and the landed also suffer from psychological barriers which make them feelsuperior to the landless. How are we going to reform them?” she asked. The tribunal was organised byAIDMAM. Other jury members were advocate Vrinda Grover, co-founder of Human Rights Law NetworkGayatri Singh, Prof Vimal Thorat, general secretary NCDHR Srivella Prasad and Vidyanand Vakil,chairperson Bihar State Commission for SCs. (The Hindu 2/10/13)Fearing violent attacks, Dalits desert Tamil Nadu village (2)Madurai: The Dalits of Kariyampatti village near Dindigul, about 60 km from here, deserted their houseson Saturday and took shelter at a hillock near Chengalapatti, fearing violent attacks from caste Hindusallegedly over a temple festival row. Perumal (38), a Dalit resident of Nadupatti Colony, claimed that acaste Hindus barged in to his house late on Friday night and threatened to murder his wife for notdisclosing the whereabouts of his son, who was involved in a brawl with Vanniyars a few months ago.“The men abused my wife and left. They came later and hurled a petrol bomb on my house,” he alleged.“Caste Hindus have been intimidating all Dalit families to leave the village. They have damaged severalhouses in the past few days. The police and revenue officials haven’t taken action against them.”According to police sources, trouble began on July 16, during a temple festival celebrated by the Dalits. Agroup of Dalit youth wore T-shirts bearing the image of Dalit icon Ondi Veeran. Objecting to this, Vanniyaryouth picked up a quarrel with them and coerced them to remove the T-shirts. A few days later, four Dalit


youths were assaulted by a group of Vanniyars, for wearing the T-shirts. The same day, a case wasregistered and arrests were made on both sides. The district administration should declare Kariyampattivillage as ‘atrocity prone zone’ and arrest the accused under the SC/ST Atrocities Act, said Rajini, theadvocate representing the Dalits. Even as the Dalits in the village alleged that they were being targetedby caste Hindus on caste lines, the police and members of Vanniyar community claimed that the disputearose over a financial transaction. “We are trying to solve the issue amicably, but a few people withvested interests are trying to politicise it,” asserted Sivakumar, the advocate representing the Vanniyars.“Dalits and Vanniyars have been living in harmony for several years now. We have never discriminatedagainst them.” (The Hindu 7/10/13)Madurai tops list of dalit women facing atrocities (2)MADURAI: Chinnayi Ayyappan (55) was among the group of dalits who stridently fought non-dalits of herKoolayanur village near Bodi in Theni district after the latter refused the former to be buried in the villagegraveyard. But barely 20 days after the dalits demanded burial rights in January 2011, a group of nondalitshurled petrol bombs on her house. Four days later, she succumbed to injuries at the GovernmentRajaji Hospital in Madurai. Not all dalit women are as unfortunate as Chinnayi to die, but they endureequally harrowing experiences if one goes by a study on crimes perpetrated against dalit womenconducted by an NGO. Incidentally, more number of atrocities against dalits, are reported from southerndistricts, particularly Madurai. The study conducted by Evidence, a Madurai-based human rightsorganisation found that 124 cases of atrocities against dalit women in 25 districts of Tamil Nadu fromJanuary 2009 to September <strong>2013</strong>. Madurai tops the list of districts with 23 cases, followed by Tirunelveliwith 13, Sivaganga 12, Virudhunagar and Theni 11 each and Dindigul 10. "These numbers pertain only tothose atrocities that were registered in police stations and pursued legally and not all incidents ofatrocities," said A Kathir, executive director, Evidence. "Thirty-six of the women were raped, eightsurvived attempts to rape and 18 suffered sexual harassment," the report said. A case in point was theplight of Thulasiammal (35), a widow who was raped by a gang of non-dalits at her house inVeerapagoundanur near Pollachi in 2010. In the same year, at Jittandahalli in Dharmapuri, a 16-year-oldgirl was molested by the school headmaster. Shockingly, seven of the 124 women have committedsuicide while 16 of them have been murdered. The study also said that the perpetrators have not targetedthe victims just once, but several times in some cases. After the Dharmapuri violence in 2012, there wasmarked increase in atrocities perpetrated against dalit women, says the study listing out 27 such incidentsthat occurred across Tamil Nadu. A senior police official said that it was wrong to paint a pictureportraying that dalit women are targeted in large numbers. "If you look at the number of atrocities againstwomen in general, dalit women would only be a small part of it," he said. "We don't discriminate atrocitiesbased on the caste of victims. We approach the cases depending on the magnitude of the offence andnot based on the victim or perpetrator," said the officer. Kathir, however, said that seldom do the policeregister cases under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. "Committees comprising human rights activities,feminists, advocates and journalists should be formed in each district to monitor atrocities against dalits,"he urged. (Times of India 9/10/13)Thousands of dalits to embrace Buddhism in Junagadh (2)The event 'Chalo Buddh Ki Aur' is being organized by Buddha Diksha Mahotsav Samiti, which claims it tobe the biggest ever in the state wherein people will take Diksha to embrace the path of Buddha. "Thiswould be first single event where around 1 lakh people would embrace Buddhism," convener of the eventDeven Vanvi said. He said people from 19 districts and 51 talukas of the state will come to Junagadh onthe occasion. "Over 30,000 families have completed the process of conversion by filling out forms andsubmitting them to respective local district administrations," Vanvi said. "The reason behind conversion ofdalits to Buddhism is the caste hierarchy that has existed for centuries. Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar showed usa different path, where there is no discrimination between human beings," one of the organizers Parikshit


Rathod said. Organizers claim that preacher Jaydev Bapa, a revered religious head among dalits inGujarat, will also embrace Buddhism along with his followers at the venue. "We have selected Junagadhfor the event as it is an important city from historical perspective. There are several historical monumentsof Emperor Ashoka here who had also adopted Buddhism," an organizer said. (Times of India 12/10/13)Dalit families threaten self-immolation (2)BHIWANI: Fifty-eight dalit families from Ladawas village have threatened self-immolation if thegovernment failed to provide them plots which were promised to them under the Mahatma Gandhi BastiYojna. A 10-member committee of the families also met Bhiwani deputy commissioner and sub-divisionalmagistrate and handed over a memorandum. Ladawas village sarpanch Munni Devi said the panchayatofficer selected 58 dalit families to give plots under Mahatma Gandhi Basti Yojna. But they are yet to getthe plots. If the government failed to give plots, the dalit families will immolate themselves in front of thedistrict headquarters, the sarpanch said. (Times of India 14/10/13)In 18 months, Patna HC frees almost all in 4 dalit killings (2)NEW DELHI:In the last one and a half years, all the major mass crimes against dalits adjudicated by thePatna high court have resulted in the acquittal of almost all the accused persons belonging to theoutlawed Ranbir Sena. Significantly, the acquittals made by the HC involved the reversal of convictionsawarded by trial courts in all the four cases booked under the prevention of atrocities Act. Thus, thereversal of the conviction last week of all the 26 accused for the Lakshmanpur Bathe massacre fitted thepattern set by the HC in its three earlier verdicts. For the killing of 58 dalits in Lakshmanpur Bathe in1997, the HC on October 9 gave the benefit of doubt to the outlawed Ranbir Sena cadres, although thetrial court had sentenced16 of them to death and 10 to life. This came on the heels of the July 3 HCverdict in another massacre allegedly carried out by Ranbir Sena in 2000 in Miyapur.In this case relatedto the murder of 32 dalits,the HC acquitted nine of the 10 people convicted by the trial court. It wassatisfied with the prosecution's evidence only against one person, Avinash Chandra Sharma. The trialcourt had awarded life sentence to all the 10 accused in 2007. The HC's Miyapur verdict was preceded byits acquittal on March1 of all the 11 accused for the 1998 Nagri Bazaar massacre.For the gunning downof 10dalitsin a Ranbir Sena operation, the trial court had imposed death penalty on three and life term oneight. The HC judgment that set this trend in Bihar was the one concerning the 1996 Bathani Tolamassacre of 21 dalits. On April17,2012,the HC acquitted 23 members of the Ranbir Sena on the groundof "defective evidence". This despite the fact that the trial court had found the evidence against three ofthem to warrant death sentence while the remaining 20 were awarded life terms. <strong>Social</strong> justice activistscite these four HC verdicts to buttress their long-standing demand to strengthen the special law that hadbeen enacted in 1989 to combat caste atrocities. They find it disturbing that in each of the instances, theHC had overruled the justice rendered by the trial courts. But the impunity surrounding the attacks ondalits was not limited to Bihar. (Times of India 15/10/13)Dalit doctor bashed by UP CM’s kin in Etawah (2)LUCKNOW: A government doctor has accused a close relative of Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam SinghYadav of beating him up severely for parking his car outside his house in Etawah on Monday night.Although Dr Pawan Pratap Singh filed a complaint with the civil lines police station, no FIR has beenregistered even 24 hours after the vicious attack. On the contrary, a complaint was lodged at anotherpolice outpost against the doctor, accusing him of trying to run Mulayam's brother-in-law Ajant SinghYadav over by his car. The Etawah police initially said Dr Singh, who is a dalit, had not filed any complaintabout getting beaten up. By late Tuesday evening, Etawah SP Nilabhja Chaudhary said he had beeninformed by the civil lines police that the two parties had compromised, and that the doctor was no longerinterested in pursuing the case. But the family members of the 50-year-old doctor, who suffered at leasteight visible injuries, rejected the SP's claim. The person accused of attacking him, Ajant Singh Yadav, is


other-in-law of the SP chief. Sources said the police were trying to pressure him into not pursuing thecomplaint, which can land the accused in trouble as he is a dalit. The police complaint would have to belodged under the stringent Prevention of Atrocities against Schedule Castes & Schedule Tribe (SC/ST)Act, which make it a non-bailable offence. Dr Singh, who is posted at Udi Community Health Centre(CHC), lives as tenant in the house of former BSP MP from Etawah, Ram Singh Shakya. This house wasallegedly attacked by SP activists in March 2012, soon after the SP had swept the polls. According to DrSingh, when he reached home on Monday evening, he found a car blocking the gate of his house. Heparked his car on the road. As he entered his house, he heard someone yelling for him. "I'd just walked inwhen Ajant Singh abused me for parking my car outside his house. Then his cronies attacked me. I waspunched, slapped and kicked. I pleaded I won't park my car outside their house again, but no onelistened. They smashed the car windscreen," he said. Dr Pawan suffered bruises and cuts all over hisbody. "I submitted a written complaint with the civil lines police station but am not sure if any action hasbeen taken," Dr Singh said on Tuesday evening. (Times of India 16/10/13)‘Restore rights of Dalits to worship at temples’ (2)Madurai: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes should take steps torestore the rights of Dalits to offer worship in temples in the western parts of the State, said S. Karuppiah,State joint-general secretary, Dalit Liberation Movement. He said here on Wednesday that amemorandum was presented to the Commission chairman in New Delhi recently in this regard. Thememorandum said the Dalits had the right to offer worship at temples in the Kangeyam taluk of Tirupurdistrict from time immemorial. The Vellakoil Veerakumar Temple, Uthama Mariamman Temple,Mangalapatti Umaya Kaliamman Temple and Pudupai Muthusamy Temple were frequently visited byDalits. Of late, they were being prevented from offering worship in these temples. The NationalCommission should make a visit to the temples to ascertain the facts. It further stated that though theState government had issued an order that Dalit students studying in self-finance institutions should gettheir fees reimbursed, it was not implemented. The National Commission should take steps for therelease special funds due to the State government from the Centre. The funds had not been released formore than a decade, thus affecting disbursal to beneficiaries, Mr. Karuppiah said. The Corporation andMunicipalities in the State had been engaging private parties to remove garbage. This move had affectedemployment opportunities for the conservancy workers who worked on a daily wage basis. Further, themove had deprived them of the chance of getting their jobs regularised. Privatisation of garbage disposalwould not only lead to job loss for the conservancy workers, but affect their livelihood, and the studies oftheir children, he said. Non-registration of cases under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes(Prevention of Atrocities) Act against offenders had been encouraging them. Such official apathy shouldnot be permitted by the National Commission, Mr. Karuppiah added. (The Hindu 17/10/13)It’s a sin to be dalit in Haryana: Union minister Kumari Selja (2)AMBALA: Dissidence in Haryana Congress came to the fore again on Thursday after Union ministerKumari Selja slammed the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government over the death of a dalit youth inpolice custody. "Is it a sin to be a dalit in Haryana? If dalits are not safe and the government does nothingto protect them, it is clear that it's a sin to be a dalit in the state," Selja said after visiting the familymembers of a youth who was mysteriously run over by a train while in police custody. "In recent yearsseveral incidents of atrocities on dalits were reported in Haryana. But the Hooda government made noserious efforts to protect them," said the four-time MP and seniormost leader from the state in the Centralgovernment. The minister visited the house of a dalit youth - Ram Kumar - in Majri in Ambala city. Theyouth was found dead on the railway tracks on October 15, a day after he was picked up by police alongwith another youth. Ram Kumar's friend, Vikram, was also allegedly tortured by police but managed toescape from custody. The handcuffed youth hid in the fields and later claimed he saw cops pushing hisfriend in front of a train. He is yet to record his statement before a magistrate. Selja said police included


provisions under the SC/ST Act in the FIR on the youth's death only after her intervention. Two assistantsub-inspectors and a head constable were arrested on Wednesday for their alleged involvement in thecustodial death of the youth. Only a few days ago, Selja had accused a section of the state partyleadership of trying to intimidate her. Her comments came after an unidentified youth flung a rock throughthe window of a train she had flagged off from her constituency, Ambala. Ambala City MLA, VinodSharma, attended the youth's funeral on Thursday and announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for thevictim's family. (Times of India 18/10/13)Dalits suffer social boycott in Maharashtra village (2)Buldhana (Maharashtra): Suman Tayde, a resident of Yerkad village in Buldhana district of Maharashtra,is growing anxious as her 14-month-old granddaughter Dipti has not had any milk since October 12. It isnot that the village has run out of supplies. Dalits of the village have been facing a social boycott andhave not been allowed to buy anything from shops. They have even been denied access to the flour mill.On Monday last, Suman went to Balaji Kunte, a caste Hindu, and requested him to spare some milk forDipti. Balaji Kunte’s wife told her, “If we give you milk, our caste people would punish us with socialboycott.” “We are living on rice. Now they [caste Hindus] are threatening us that the road leading to ourlocality would be blocked,” says Tulsabai Telgote, Suman’s neighbour. “Afraid, our girls have not steppedout of the house since October 12.” The recent tensions in Yerkad can be traced to the January 26incident when some caste Hindus did not allow B.R. Ambedkar’s photo to be put up alongside photos ofother leaders during the Republic Day ceremony. “We were silent then but on the day of Maha Shivratri inMay this year, they [caste Hindus] uprooted a Panchashil [the Buddhist flag] and replaced it with a saffronflag,” claims Jagdish Bhandare. Since the Maha Shivratri incident, no Dalit labourer has been allowed towork in caste Hindus’ farms, claim members of the community. On October 12, tensions escalated after adispute led to caste Hindus allegedly attacking Dalits. The Dalits claim the caste Hindus resorted to verbalabuse of Dalit women, stoned the Ambedkar statue and filed “false complaints of theft” leading to thearrest of 15 Dalits. Uttam Wankhede said that on October 12 when Dalit women were offering prayersnear the Ambedkar statue to the Bodhivruksha tree before leaving for Nagpur to attend theDhammachakra Pravartan Din ceremony at Deeksha Bhoomi [celebrations of Dalits converting toBuddhism on October 14, 1956, under the leadership of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar]. Some caste Hindus cameand passed on vulgar remarks relating to their worship of Dr. Ambedkar, she alleged. “Suddenly, theyattacked us. Within five minutes, the village sarpanch, Amol Sathe, came with other caste Hindus andstarted beating us,” claimed Meera Wankhede, who received severe injuries on her hand. Police reachedthe spot within 10 minutes but according to the Dalits of Yerkad, they lathicharged Dalits instead of tryingto stop the caste Hindus. “Police even arrested 15 Dalit men on false charges of stealing a goddess’ornaments from a temple near the Ambedkar statue. They did not register our complaints,” allegedJagdish Bhandare. “After the Maha Shivratri incident, no autorickshaw would agree to take us to ourschool. We had to walk for more than three km to our school in Undri village,” said Shivani, a standardeight student. “Some of them [caste Hindus] wrote abusive words about us and Baba Saheb on the roadleading to our school.” However, caste Hindus and the police denied all these allegations. InspectorSantosh Tale said there was no “boycott” of Dalits . “There was a small incident and some politicalelements are trying to take advantage of the situation. We have arrested 15 people from the Dalit localityand 10 people from the caste Hindu locality for rioting over the October 12 incident,” Mr. Tale told TheHindu . Buldhana district’s Superintendent of Police Shamrao Dihgavkar said the situation in the villagewas peaceful after a “small incident”. “Ours is a peaceful village. It was a small incident but some politicalelements are trying to disrupt the peace here,” said Mangesh Sathe, brother of sarpanch Amol Sathe, acaste Hindu. Mr. Amol Sathe, who represents the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was on Monday arrestedunder the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989. He has since beenreleased but prohibited from entering the village, said the SP. Some Dalits have voiced their anxiety incontinuing to stay in the village. “Give us an alternative piece of land and we will shift out of this place.


Otherwise, someday, they [caste Hindus] will kill some of us,” Sindhu Tayade, a Dalit woman who wasinjured during the October 12 attack, told the deputy collector who came to take stock of the situation.(The Hindu 20/10/13)'Nothing wrong in dalits conversion' (2)GANDHINAGAR: Nothing objectionable has been found till now by administration in the probe into theincident pertaining to a large number of people, mainly dalits, embracing Buddhism on October 13 inDungarpur village on the outskirts of Junagadh city. Sources said the local administration that hadinitiated a probe into the event has complete videography of the event. "It has come to light that thepeople had gathered at the spot to listen to the preaching of Buddhism. It is their democratic right to doso. The local administration is probing the matter but nothing wrong has emerged till now," an official inthe state secretariat said. Officials said a dalit embracing Buddhism continues to get the social benefitsthat are meant for Scheduled Castes. A considerably large number of people had embraced Buddhism inthe presence of monks at the event called 'Chalo Buddh Ki Ore', that was reportedly organized by BuddhaDiksha Mahotsav Samiti. Officials maintained that the state government is doing its best to tackle castebaseddiscrimination. "We have a record of charge sheeting in 98 per cent of cases of atrocities that areinvestigated. We have vigilance committees at taluka and district levels that keep an eye on instances ofcaste based discrimination. In addition to social welfare officers, we have also appointed vigilance officersto tackle the practice of caste-based discrimination," an official said. He further said the state governmentpays Rs 100 per day apart from transportation cost of victims and witnesses who come for hearings incases of atrocity. "A victim can also hire a private lawyer to fight his case with a fee up to Rs 50,000,which is paid by the government," the official added. (Times of India 22/10/13)Caste Hindu abuses Dalit women, held (2)THOOTHUKUDI: A caste Hindu man was arrested for allegedly abusing two dalit women and calling themby their caste name in a derogatory manner, at Vallanadu near here on Monday. Police said thatMariselvam, a dalit resident of Seidhunganallur, was running a hotel on highway at Vallanadu with thehelp of his wife Rajeshwari (36). On Monday, Rajeshwari and Lakshmi, a worker at the hotel, went out toattend to the call of nature when Mari, Murugan and Esakki, all caste Hindus, allegedly tried to molestthem. When the women retaliated, the trio verbally abused them by calling their caste name. Soon aheated argument ensued, in the course of which Mari allegedly slapped Rajeshwari injuring her. Later,Rajeshwari lodged a complaint with Murappanadu Police station. Thoothukudi Rural DSP, Narayananfiled a case under section 294(b), 323, 506 (ii) of the IPC and section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prevention ofHarassment of Women Act and arrested Mari. (new <strong>Indian</strong> Express 23/10/13)‘H.P. temples still bar Dalits’ (2)SHIMLA: Noted Himachal writer S.R. Harnot has sought an FIR to be registered against the managingcommittee of famous Markendeya Temple in Bilaspur for practising discrimination against the ScheduledCastes and Dalits. He said in a statement that the temple management displayed boards, banning theentry of Dalits into the temple. Markandeya is also a small village, about 20 km from Bilaspur town andhas an auspicious spring of water attracting pilgrims of Char Dham. A festival is celebrated here annuallyon Baisakhi with a great pomp and splendour. The Markandeya temple is dedicated to Sage Markandeyawho had lived and worshipped here. Mr. Harnot who has authored many books and articles against theprevalence of caste practices in the backward hill State, regretted the temple management was openlyrestricting the entry of lower castes in any religious shrine of the State. Calling it an offence against thedowntrodden, he said the objectionable sign boards were earlier removed by the management on hisintervention about two years ago. But the similar boards were under display again and the districtadministration was keeping quiet and maintaining a silence. The National Commission for Scheduled


Castes recently received complaints of “no entry” in about 35 temples and religious shrines in HimachalPradesh. (The Hindu 24/10/13)205 cases filed against cops in 2012 for human rights violation (1)Chennai: There has been a sudden spurt in the number of cases registered against policemen for allegedhuman rights violations across the country, with 205 last year alone, according to the National CrimeRecords Bureau. The total number of cases registered against the men in uniform was 205 last year,much higher than data of 2011 and 2010, which stood at 72 and 37 respectively, NCRB data said.However, of the 205 cases, only 19 personnel were charge sheeted and none were convicted last year.Assam registered the maximum cases at 102, whereas Delhi registered 75 last year for violation ofhuman rights. While Assam did not file charge sheet against any policeman, Delhi charge sheeted 12 ofits personnel. However none of them were convicted in 2012. In 2011 too, Delhi registered 50 casesagainst its cops and charge sheeted 40 personnel. Eventually 232 policemen were convicted from variouscases registered in various years. Bihar and Gujarat were the top two states to register cases againsttheir cops in 2010 with nine and eight respectively for violating human rights, the report said. Though thetwo states filed charge sheets against five and two of their personnel respectively, only four Biharpersonnel and none from Gujarat were convicted in 2010. The cases registered against policemen relatesto disappearance of persons, illegal detention, fake encounter killings, violation againstterrorists/extremists, extortion, torture, false implication, failure in taking action, indignity to women,atrocities on SC/ST and other cases. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express 25/10/13)‘Release Dalits of Ragimarur village from bonded labour’ (2)Hassan: Members of pro-Dalit organisations staged a protest in Hassan on Friday to demand that Dalitswho have been working as bonded labourers at Ragimarur village in Arkalgud taluk be released andprovided relief to take up alternative jobs. Around 30 Dalit families in the village have been working asbonded labourers for landlords to clear loans taken years ago. The Hindu had reported their plight onAugust 15. Following media reports, Deputy Commissioner V. Anbukkumar visited the village and orderedfor a probe into the issue. The protesters said that though the Deputy Commissioner ordered theAssistant Commissioner of Sakleshpur subdivision to file a report in 15 days, no report had beensubmitted so far. According to the survey conducted by Jeevika, an NGO working for the release ofbonded labourers in the State, more than 900 people are working as bonded labourers in the district. Mr.Anbukkumar, who received a memorandum submitted by the protesters, instructed the District <strong>Social</strong>Welfare Officer to visit the village and workout a proposal to provide temporary relief to the bondedlabourers. He also assured the protesters that the district administration would initiate measures toprovide security to Dalits against atrocities, if any, in the village. (The Hindu 26/10/13)Dalit atrocities: SC body gets 11,000 complaints (2)Jalandhar: The National Commission for Schedule Castes (NCSC) has received around 11,000complaints of atrocities on Dalits in Punjab, NCSC national vice-chairman Raj Kumar Verka said onSunday. The commission has written to the President seeking amendments in the Scheduled Caste andScheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to fix the responsibility of police and deputycommissioners in dealing with such complaints, he added. Verka said majority of the complaints wereagainst the police. "Of the total received complaints, nearly 2,000 had been redressed. Complaintsagainst the police were mostly related to delay in registration of FIRs, non-arrest of accused and longpending inquiries," he added. Around 17,000 complaints of atrocities on Dalits are from Haryana. (<strong>Indian</strong>Express 28/10/13)Dalits, tribals work as marginal labourers (2)


CHENNAI: A larger proportion of dalits and tribals work as marginal labourers, which means they areemployed for less than six months a year. This shows the precarious nature of the existence of thesemarginalised groups despite decades of government schemes seeking to address it. Census data on SCsand STs released on Monday shows the south fares better than the north when it comes to providingsteady work for dalits. Only 9.9% non-dalits are engaged in marginal work compared to 12% dalits and17% scheduled tribes, according to the data. As per the 2011 census, about 20 crore of the country's 121crore people are dalits, and 10.4 crore are ST. Across the country, 39.8% of the population wasemployed. Of this, close to 30% are in main work, which means they get employment for most of the year.For dalits and tribals, the work participation rate was 40.9% and 48.7%. Yet only 28% of dalit workerswere in main work and the rest were marginal labourers. Himachal Pradesh had the highest proportion ofdalits working as marginal labourers at 23%, followed by Bihar (16.5%). In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, incontrast, only 6% to 7% dalits were employed in marginal work. "The main reason for dalits in Tamil Naduand Kerala getting employment through the year is the higher literacy rate. With proper education, manydalits in these states are employed in IT companies or in government jobs. They may be working at alower level, but they get employment for the entire year," said P Sampath, president of the Tamil NaduUntouchability Eradication Front. In Kerala, due to the implementation of land reforms, many dalits arelandowners and the figures are better. In all other states, this is lacking, said Sampath. Only a few dalitsare in marginal work in Kerala because of the migration to Gulf countries, said social scientist M S SPandian. "Many job seekers from Kerala have migrated to other states or to Gulf countries. In TamilNadu, reservation is the reason for more dalits being in main work," said Pandian. With a higher rate ofeconomic growth, there are more job opportunities for dalits in Tamil Nadu, he added. (Times of India30/10/13)Untouchability Eradication Front leader dead (2)MADURAI: President of Madurai unit of the Tamil Nadu Untouchability Eradication Front M. Thangarajpassed away here on Tuesday. Thangaraj (47), who had met with a road accident on Sunday,succumbed to injuries at a private hospital. He is survived by his wife Tamil Selvi, and two children. Hehad been associated with the front since its inception in 2009 and played a vital role in bringing to light the“untouchability wall” constructed to isolate Dalits in Uthapuram near Usilampatti in 2009. Thangaraj wasvery active in identifying and raking up issues pertaining to the oppression of Dalits in the southerndistricts. All India Forward Bloc MLA P.V. Kathiravan, front State office-bearers P. Sampath and S.Samuel, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders M.N.S. Venkatraman, C. Ramakrishan and B.Vikraman were among those who took part in his funeral at Nathapatti in the district. (The Hindu31/10/13)Dalit's community certificate cancellation set aside (2)CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has set aside an order cancelling the community certificate issued to aDalit, who converted to Christianity and later re-converted to Hinduism. Holding that a Hindu notconducting puja in puja room regularly could not be a ground to declare that he was not a Hindu, a benchof Justices N Paul Vasanthakumar and K Ravichandra Baabu quashed the cancellation order. Concedingthe arguments of senior advocate K Duraisamy on Thursday, the bench said that the villageadministrative officer (VAO) and the revenue divisional officer (DRO) were not correct in concluding thatK Vasikaran, a dalit panchayat president, was not a Hindu, merely because there was no evidence ofprayer/puja conducted in his house which had a puja room. They also reported that words from the Biblewere found at the house and a Cross had been inscribed on its pillars. Vasikaran was elected president ofGerugambakkam panchayat, reserved for Dalits, in October 2011. After the poll loss, his rival candidatemoved the state election commission to strip him of the post, saying he was a Christian and that hiscommunity certificate too should be cancelled. The matter was referred to the revenue authorities for filingof a report. The officials visited his home and held inquiries before submitting a report favouring


cancellation of the Dalit certificate. Vasikaran said the Tiruvallur district collector had sent his notices toan addressee K Victor, which was his name when he was Christian. He had become a Hindu byundergoing a ‘shuddhi’ ceremony by the Arya Samaj in Chennai and a certificate too has been given bythe organisation. Noting that his community had accepted him, he said he had polled more than 2,600votes, which was another indication of acceptance by his community. The bench said Vasikaran hadbeen described as a Dalit in his school certificate in 1989. The Sriperumpudur tahsildar issued a propercommunity certificate in 1996. But, his poll rivals had not raked up his caste status before the election, thebench pointed out. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express 1/11/13)Attacked by caste Hindus, Dalits knock collector's door (2)TIRUCHY: Dalit villagers, who were allegedly attacked by caste Hindus on Deepavali day at Anthanallurin Srirangam constituency, approached Collector Jayashree Muraleedharan on Monday seeking to initiateaction against their tormentors. They appealed her to shift a PDS outlet claiming that it is located at aplace dominated by members of the other community. A large number of Dalits, including those injured inthe alleged attack, thronged the collectorate. Explaining the chain of events, they told the collector that asection of people from their community were waiting at a bus stop at Mullikarumbur on Deepavali daywhen a group of caste Hindus approached them and picked up a quarrel. Mullikarumbur is a placedominated by caste Hindus. According to the Dalits, the caste Hindus used filthy language and addressedthem by their caste name. When asked why they were targeting them, the group allegedly assaultedthem. “They came there with an intention to attack us and as planned, they rushed towards us with lethalweapons and iron rods and assaulted us,” a victim said. The injured Dalits were rushed to the GH andwere given treatment. Meanwhile, Dalit members lodged a complaint with the Somarasampettai policestation, but the police allegedly refused to entertain the complaint. Meanwhile, when the caste Hinduslearnt that a complaint has been lodged against them, they stopped the Dalits once again while they werewaiting at the bus stop and warned them of dire consequences. In the petition to the collector, they alsoexpressed fear that the situation may worsen if the people from their colony go to the ration outlet locatedin anarea dominated by caste Hindus. “People from our area, especially women, fear to go there to buythings and we appeal to open a PDS outlet so that we may live peacefully”, the petition further said. TheCollector received the petition and asked police officials to look into the issue. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express5/11/13)Dalits from Mullainagar allege ostracism, petition Collector (2)TIRUCHI: A group of Dalits of Mullainagar near Somarasampettai on the outskirts of the city have urgedthe district administration to take action against people of other castes for allegedly ostracising them.While the Dalit Colony is located in Mullai Nagar, people from other caste live in Mullikarumbur. “We havebeen threatened not to come to the bus stop or reach the ration shop at Mullikarumbur, where people ofother caste lived,” said the people of the village who submitted a petition to the Collector here on Monday.According to the petition, which was submitted in the name of Mallar Naadu Mallar Kazhagam, the issue,which had been brewing for the past few days, took an ugly turn on Saturday, when people from othercaste attacked four Dalits irked over the presence of a few Dalits at the bus stop in the village. They fledthe scene after the attack. Based on a complaint, the police have secured a few persons in connectionwith the incident. “Assuming that the issue had been resolved on Saturday, we resumed our daily routine,only to be threatened of dire consequences if we tried to reach the fair price shop,” said Kasturi, who wasforced to return home. The people of the village, numbering a little over 150, gathered at the Collectorarteshortly after a group of Dalit women, who came from Mullai Nagar to the ration shop, was reportedlythreatened against entering Mullikarumbur. (The Hindu 6/11/13)Dalits of Naikkankottai village observe fast (2)


DHARMAPURI: Over 400 Dalits, including school-going children and women, from Natham, Anna Nagarand Kondampatti colonies of the Naikkankottai village in Dharmapuri district observed fast on Thursday inmemory of the violence that was unleashed on the colonies last year. Describing November 7 as “BlackDay,” they recalled the incidents of attack and arson by caste Hindus following an inter-caste marriage ofDalit youth Illavarasan and Vanniyar girl Divya. Immediate withdrawal of prohibhitory orders was amongthe main demands of the people. The agitators reiterated their demand for handing over the cases ofviolence and Ilavarasan’s death to Central Bureau of Investigation and constitution of a special court to trythe cases at Naickenkottai. The other demands of the Dalits included expeditious implementation ofrehabilitation measures, provision of bank loans to every household and two acres of land to everyaffected Dalit family, establishment of industrial units to provide jobs to Dalit youth, stringent actionagainst ‘kangaroo courts,’ enactment of a special law to prevent honour killing and protection to intercastemarried couples. District Collector K. Vivekanandan on Monday rejected their request forpermission for the fast and assured them of speedy rehabilitation. Meanwhile, the district police arrestedten activists of Makkal Jananayaka Kazhagam. The activists were produced before Judicial MagistrateCourt I in Dharmapuri and Pennagaram and Palacode Judicial Magistrate Courts. They were remanded injudicial custody for fifteen days and sent to the Salem central prison. The activists were arrested forallegedly putting up posters, accusing the government of ignoring the Dalits. Cases have been registeredagainst them under various sections. Prohibitory orders under section 144 (1) have been promulgated inthe Harur Revenue Division for nine days from Thursday. (The Hindu 8/11/13)Dalit woman raped in Bhopal (2)BHOPAL: Search for her missing husband landed a young woman in net of a rapist on the streets of thestate capital. Failing to hear from her husband working here for three long months, the 26-year-oldwoman travelled with her new-born all the way from Rajgarh in his search. New to Bhopal, the dalitwoman managed to find the shop were her husband worked. Promising to take her to her husband, theshop-owner instead took her to a house where he threatened to kill her daughter if she resisted and rapedher. The incident took place on November 7. A case was registered in Jehangirabad police station onFriday. Around three months back, the woman's relative had called her husband to work in a meat shop inBarkhedi area here. Since the woman could not contact her husband ever since he reached Bhopal, shecame to the city and started search of him. When she found the meat shop where her husband worked,its owner Nafees Qureshi asked her to wait and told that her husband would come in some time. Later,the shop-owner took her to a house on a bike and committed the crime. When she objected, he hit herdaughter, beat the woman and threatened to kill her daughter. The accused fled the spot after theincident while the woman managed to approach the police and got a case registered. The woman saysshe has no clue of the location where she was taken. Besides, rape case, the woman also lodged amissing person report about her husband. The accused has been arrested. (Times of India 10/11/13)Dalits burn own huts in disputed land, 8 heldDharmapuri: Eight persons, including a member of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, were arrested by thepolice in the caste violence-marred Dharmapuri district on Saturday on charges of burning their own hutsand trying to incite hatred. According to police, in 1984, the Adi Dravidar Welfare Department (ADWD)acquired two acres of land from Velusamy in Athooranalli village, and distributed the land to 45 Dalits.However, Velusamy filed a civil suit in the Madras High Court and the verdict was against the ADWDaction. In 2002, Madras High Court ordered that the ADWD return the land to Velusamy. Subsequently,the ADWD cancelled the house pattas given to the Dalits. However, one month ago, a few Dalitsconstructed huts on the land. On November 8, the Dalits lodged a case that some persons had burntdown their huts. On inquiry, it was found that the Dalits burnt down their own huts. Police arrestedMurugan (37), Nagaraj (30), Govindaraj (35), Mathumani (36), Perumal, Palani, Muthusamy (52) andPalacode secretary of VCK Rajagopal. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express 10/11/13)


Bihar: Dalit girl’s rape, murder triggers violence (2)Hajipur (Bihar): An angry mob attacked police on Sunday after an 11-year-old Dalit girl was allegedlyraped and then murdered in Vaishali district of north Bihar. The body was found on Saturday night in awetland at Khapura village, 1km from the victim’s native Harpur Gopal village. The class-4 student issuspected to have been gangraped before she was killed. Police are waiting for the postmortem report toconfirm the rape. The child had gone missing three days ago, said Vaishali superintendent of police (SP)Suresh Prasad Choudhary. “She had gone out of her house to buy a packet of incense sticks to be usedfor the Chhath festival (which concluded on Saturday), but did not return,” the SP said. On Sunday,protesters resorted to stone-pelting and gheraoed the Bidupur police station, about 40km north of statecapital Patna. Four police personnel were injured in the stone-pelting. Some protesters even lobbedcrude bombs. One person, identified as Sudhir Paswan, sustained splinter injuries and was admitted tothe Hajipur Sadar hospital. Police fired tear gas shells to disperse the mob and riot police were brought infrom neighbouring police station areas. The protesters were pacified only after Vaishali district magistrateJitendra Srivastav announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to the victim’s kin and the SP promised thatthe culprits would be nabbed soon. He said so far a woman had been arrested in connection with themurder while eight people were held for rioting. The SP said the arrested woman ran a toddy shop, wherecriminals used to assemble. He said police had lodged an FIR against the rioters. This is the second timein less than two months that the Bidupur police station was assailed by the public protesting a rape. Inlate September, the police station was attacked with stones and a police vehicle was set afire by a mobprotesting the gangrape of two minor girls in another Bidupur village. Locals alleged that the culprits inthis case were yet to be arrested. (Hindustan Times 11/11/13)Dalits from Belthangady want land restored to them (12)Belthangady: Hundreds of people turned up in front of the Belthangady Taluk Panchayat on Mondaydemanding that the land allocated to S.D.M. Educational institute be given to Dalits in the region.Gathering under the banner of the Karnataka Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (Ambedkar vada), the protestorsshouted anti-government slogans for having allegedly diverted nearly 43 acres of depressed classes (DC)Manna land in Ujire – which, during the time of the British was reserved primarily for Dalits – was given tothe Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala to construct a “profit-making” educational institution. “What land theBritishers have left behind for the Dalits, is being illegally taken over in the name of Dharma (religion) inDharmasthala,” said K. Neela, State Vice-President, Janavadi Mahila Sanghatane. (The Hindu 12/11/13)Depute para-military force in dalit dominated areas' (2)AJMER: Center for Dalit Rights on Wednesday demanded that the district administration should deputepara- military force in the regions that have a high concentration of dalits. The centre alleged that duringelections, dalit voters in these pockets are threatened to vote in favour of a particular candidate. "Thereare cases in which certain leaders forced dalits to stay at home on the day of voting. Also, there havebeen instances when dalits were not allowed to enter the polling booth in an area dominated by the uppercastes," said Meetha Lal Jatav, coordinator of Dalit Election Watch, a unit under the Centre for DalitRights. The center also demanded to close circuit cameras on polling station in these sensitive areas."Most of the dalit women face problem on the day of voting and therefore the arrangements will help themfor free and fair voting. The center has also started election watch in the state and a control room isestablished in Jaipur. "We are demanding to bond anti social elements of these sensitive regions whocame to threat dalits for voting in favor of certain candidates" Ramesh Bansal, coordinator of the center.(Times of India 14/11/13)Ambedkar land irony: No push for dalit issues (2)


INDORE: Dalit discontent with both Congress and BJP in MP is strong and community members feel theabsence of a leader who can make their voice matter in the elections. Dalits and tribals across B RAmbedkar's birth state account for about 35% of total votes. Still, Dalits here feel a sense ofmarginalization — a void no national leader, including Mayawati, has filled . With a population of 2.7 crorein a state of 7.4 crore people, they feel the need of one who can keep them from getting torn betweenBJP and Congress. "Ambedkar's spirit has failed to strike strong roots in MP," says C D Nayak, seniorprofessor at Mhow's Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar National <strong>Institute</strong> of <strong>Social</strong> Science. Nayak says BJP andCongress have minority and SC/ST cells but have little concern for their welfare. Mhow Dalit leaderMohan Bakode says after 66 years of independence, several Dalit areas still have no toilets. Critical ofleaders such as Mayawati, he says: "BSP is no longer the party it was when it started. It is only theeducated Dalit who raises the demand for a leader. MP has no Dalit leaders unlike UP or Maharashtra."(Times of India 15/11/13)Adoption row: Dalits protest against injustice in Mysore (2)Mysore: Guardians of eight year old Ullas and seven year old Anand, who are all set to be given up foradoption to an Italian couple without their consent, protested in front of the Gandhi statue near the courthere on Friday joined by hundreds of Dalit activists and several relatives. Asked why they were againstthe children being adopted, when they seemed willing to go, their uncle Nataraj said, “We may be poor,but we are not heartless enough to let go of our sister’s children altogether. Adoption would end ourrelationship with them and we don’t want that to happen. The children themselves are too small to judgethe situation.” Claiming they had met a child placed in the custody of the Child Welfare Committee,Mysore, who was adopted by a couple in Mandya, but did not like staying with them, he said, “Luckilythe girl was in Mandya and so could come back. We are seeing so much of injustice taking place rightbefore our eyes. Why should we then send our children to Italy?" The protestors urged the Mysoredistrict administration and the CWC, Mysore in a memorandum to immediately remove the children fromthe care of the Vatsalya Charitable Trust in Bengaluru, and put them in a good institution in Mysore inaccordance with former Mysore Deputy Commissioner, Manivannan’s order in 2008. “We would like tosee the children remain safe and well till they complete 18 years of age,” they pleaded. Anand and Ullaswere orphaned five years ago after their mother was gangraped and murdered and their father committedsuicide. The two were put in care of a home in Mysore by CWC but were later shifted to the VCT withouttheir guardian’s knowledge. —S.P. (Asian Age 16/11/13)DSP to probe Dalit girl's rape in Bhiwani school (2)Rohtak: A deputy superintendent of police-level probe has been ordered into the alleged rape of a Class10 Dalit girl at a Bhiwani village. The victim had accused her Sanskrit teacher of sexually assaulting her.Siwani DSP Pritivi Singh said that investigations were on and experts were being roped in to counsel thevictim. As per details, Tosham police had booked a Sanskrit teacher, identified as Shiv Charan, for rape;under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act and under the SC/ST Act on November 16 onthe complaint of the victim. In her complaint, she said that on November 6, Charan asked her to fetch aglass of water in an isolated room, where he allegedly raped her. The victim stopped going to school fromthe next day without citing any reason to her parents. Later, she narrated the incident to her mother, afterwhich her kin reached the school and manhandled the accused and locked the school. Police said thatthe accused would be arrested after verifying the allegations, as investigations are on. Bhiwani districteducation officer Nirmala Sheoran said that on the demand of villagers, the entire 11-member staff of theschool has been replaced. “The new staff on deputation would take over on Tuesday,” she said.(Hindustan Times 18/11/13)India global capital of open defecation: NGO (2)


New Delhi: With more than 626 million people daily defecating in the open, India is on the verge ofbecoming the "global capital of open defecation", an NGO said here Monday. More than 55 percentwomen from the Dalit community daily face harassment at the hands of rowdy males when they go out inthe open to defecate, said Rajesh Upadhya, executive director of the National Confederation for the Dalit."The situation won't improve till the <strong>Indian</strong> government stops making false promises and immediatelyimplements the policies meant for providing proper sanitation facilities to the Dalit community," he toldmedia persons. Upadhya was speaking on the right to sanitation and hygiene for Dalits. He said that evendecades after independence, sanitation-related problems with Dalits have increased all over the country."The condition is so bad that there are only 30-40 toilets for 29,000-30,000 people in every Dalit colony inthe capital," he said. "Only 17-18 percent of the people from the Dalit community are able to avail propersanitation facilities," Upadhya said. "The budget allocated for sanitation is not being fully utilised and if thecommunity asks for toilets, the bureaucrats do nothing about it," Upadhya told IANS. "There is notransparency in the usage of funds allotted by the government," he said. (Deccan Herald 19/11/13)Status quo for Dalits: caste shame for royal state of Rajasthan (2)Jaipur: Dalit activist Bhanwar Meghvanshi quips, “The running battle is on even three decades afterPahadia as CM faced untouchability. Quite often Dalit legislators are compelled to remain subservient toupper-caste leaders who get them the ticket or spend money on their elections.” He quotes a glaring caseof a scheduled caste seat in Bhilwara where for 20 years a Rajput leader controlled the politics of thearea so much so that the MLA himself lived in the servant’s quarters for 10 years while the leaderoccupied the bungalow allotted to him. The officers are also known by their caste labels and not thepositions they hold. Advocate Satish Kumar says, “Even today caste reaches the village before theposition – ‘he may be a Meghawal but is a good officer’.” Every caste has its own gods and temples andDalits are kept out of them. Thus while officers use the Dalit leaders to mobilise lucrative postings, theyfail to deliver or face political pressure in initiating action under the SC/ST Act. Nothing has changed inroyalty-dominated Rajasthan in the past three decades where the Dalits’ fight for ownership of five bighasof land, where their dream of empowerment is buried, continues unabated. The neighbouring state ofUttar Pradesh showed them the way where ownership of allotted land gave them the elusive dignity. Buthere they have yet to find a Mayawati of Rajasthan. The Dalit leader, whose catchphrase of dignitycatapulted her to national political heights, has not become a household name in the desert state thoughher mentor, Kanshi Ram, had built the party’s base of a bureaucratic network. Ostensibly, there are tworeasons – the Jatavs are not a dominant caste and the 17% Dalit population is not only scattered in thestate but are also divided into 62 sub-castes. Meghvanshi says: “The political parties also prefer puppetsor docile Dalit leaders of a sub-caste who are small in numbers in a constituency. For example, theBairawas are a dominant caste but the ticket will go to the Mochi caste, which has barely 300 votes in theShahpura constituency.” The chairperson of the Centre for Dalit Rights, PL Mimroth, laments, “The fightfor land rights is interlinked with social and political empowerment as five bigha zameen gives themdignity as well as economic independence. But we will have to wait for another 50 years to achieve it.”According to him, the Bhoodan movement could not be implemented in letter and spirit because of thefeudal social structure, both in political and social set-ups. “At least 50% of the land allocated to Dalits iseither encroached or has gone back to the powerful landowners,” he says. Thus, the Dalits are fighting atwo-pronged battle – for economic independence and political participation. (Hindustan Times 20/11/13)Status quo for Dalits: caste shame for royal state of Rajasthan (2)Jaipur: Dalit activist Bhanwar Meghvanshi quips, “The running battle is on even three decades afterPahadia as CM faced untouchability. Quite often Dalit legislators are compelled to remain subservient toupper-caste leaders who get them the ticket or spend money on their elections.” He quotes a glaring caseof a scheduled caste seat in Bhilwara where for 20 years a Rajput leader controlled the politics of thearea so much so that the MLA himself lived in the servant’s quarters for 10 years while the leader


occupied the bungalow allotted to him. The officers are also known by their caste labels and not thepositions they hold. Advocate Satish Kumar says, “Even today caste reaches the village before theposition – ‘he may be a Meghawal but is a good officer’.” Every caste has its own gods and temples andDalits are kept out of them. Thus while officers use the Dalit leaders to mobilise lucrative postings, theyfail to deliver or face political pressure in initiating action under the SC/ST Act. Nothing has changed inroyalty-dominated Rajasthan in the past three decades where the Dalits’ fight for ownership of five bighasof land, where their dream of empowerment is buried, continues unabated. The neighbouring state ofUttar Pradesh showed them the way where ownership of allotted land gave them the elusive dignity. Buthere they have yet to find a Mayawati of Rajasthan. The Dalit leader, whose catchphrase of dignitycatapulted her to national political heights, has not become a household name in the desert state thoughher mentor, Kanshi Ram, had built the party’s base of a bureaucratic network. Ostensibly, there are tworeasons – the Jatavs are not a dominant caste and the 17% Dalit population is not only scattered in thestate but are also divided into 62 sub-castes. Meghvanshi says: “The political parties also prefer puppetsor docile Dalit leaders of a sub-caste who are small in numbers in a constituency. For example, theBairawas are a dominant caste but the ticket will go to the Mochi caste, which has barely 300 votes in theShahpura constituency.” The chairperson of the Centre for Dalit Rights, PL Mimroth, laments, “The fightfor land rights is interlinked with social and political empowerment as five bigha zameen gives themdignity as well as economic independence. But we will have to wait for another 50 years to achieve it.”According to him, the Bhoodan movement could not be implemented in letter and spirit because of thefeudal social structure, both in political and social set-ups. “At least 50% of the land allocated to Dalits iseither encroached or has gone back to the powerful landowners,” he says. Thus, the Dalits are fighting atwo-pronged battle – for economic independence and political participation. (Hindustan Times 21/11/13)Dalits out of fish ponds (2)In the eastern Uttar Pradesh countryside, there were occupations, styles, actions and mannerisms thatcould indicate a person’s caste. I have explained in the last two articles how field rats were eaten byDalits and how they raided rats’ ‘homes’ to look for food grains they had gathered. Today, these practiceshave almost disappeared. As I look at eastern Uttar Pradesh more closely, I find a few more practicesassociated with Dalits of the region. In this part of the country, barring Brahmin, Koeri, and probably Mali,people of other communities ate fish. Koeri is a caste in eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar identifies asMaurya, Kushwaha, Saini, etc. In Maharashtra, the caste is known as Mali. A hard-working people, Koerisgrow vegetables. The caste identified as Mali grows flowers and is part of the Jajmani system where theysupply flowers on occasions such as wedding and religious rituals. A caveat needs to be prefixed thatbarring Mallah — that also double as fisherman in this part of India — OBCs are generally not a meat- orfish-eating people. They do eat but not as aggressively as Dalits. Among Dalit sub-groups too, there aremany small subcastes that are not fond of non-vegetarian food. Circa 1975, most Dalits hardly hadsurpluses to buy meat/chicken or fish. They were often short of cash and there was no way nonvegetarianfood would be bought. Sure, whenever a guest arrived, the host would do everything toprocure meat/ chicken or fish. Not serving non-vegetarian was taken as an offence by the guest. Often,Dalits ate wild fish that they hunted. Fish hunting had its cycle. The fish-hunting cycle would begin withthe first rain in the third week of June. During rains, a series of nallahs — natural waterways — wouldcome alive in the entire eastern Uttar Pradesh countryside. Rainwater would reach low-lying areas ofvillages and finally join nallahs, which would eventually join rivers and large lakes around. The fish livingin rivers and lakes would then start swimming against the current. Once in the nallah, fish would find evenstronger currents as water from villages would pour into it. Their journey from a nallah to the high-lyinglandmass would be full of dangers and some of them could get trapped in open fields. That’s the momentDalits would wait for. Dalit women, too, would join male members to catch the fish. Now, in eastern UttarPradesh, Dalit women have stopped fishing this way. The second fish-hunting season would start whenpaddy, planted in July, would mature and there would be plenty of water in the field. There would be tiny


fish around. Often, young Dalits would go around paddy fields looking for fish. Young Dalit girls, too,would join them. This practice has stopped, too. The third cycle of fish hunting would begin in Octoberwhen monsoon retreated. This time, fish would return to their original homes in rivers and lakes. Theynow went with water currents. This hunting was mostly male-centric. The fourth cycle of fish huntingwould take place during the winter season when water in nallahs would start drying up. Dalit youth wouldcatch fish trapped in the dry areas of the nallah. This, too, would be a male-centric exercise. The fifthcycle of fish hunting would be fishing rod-based; this too was male-centric. The sixth and final fish huntingseason would begin in May and June when village ponds would start drying up. Villagers would raidponds collectively. They would jump in ponds with whatever tools they had. This practice has alsostopped today. Both underpaid and overworked, Dalits devised several methods to survive. Many of thepractices they followed built a particular stereotype around the community. With the passage of time, theybecame Dalit marker. These markers have been declining over the years, particularly after 1990, whenDalits began to move to cities. Dalits’ migration to cities is their greatest march to freedom in their knownhistory. Dalit women out of fish ponds mean they are out of caste bondage. (Pioneer 24/11/13)10 injured in caste clashes, dalit houses ransacked (2)Dindigul: Simmering tension between dalits of Nadupatti and non-dalits of adjoining Kariyapmatti villagenear Nilakottai in Dindigul district took an ugly turn on Sunday evening, as houses of about 10 dalits wereallegedly ransacked and six of them were set on fire by non-dalits. Dalits attempted to prevent the nondalitsfrom continuing the spree resulting in a clash between the two groups. Police officials who rushedto the spot and brought the situation under control said that about 10 people from both sides were injuredin the clash. Police have rounded up more than 100 people who were involved in the clash, but were yetto be arrested till late in the night. "Right now our focus is on controlling the clash and bringing peace andnormalcy to the village. We would arrest all those involved in the attack," said Dindigul SP TJayachandran. Preliminary inquiries have revealed that sexual harassment of girls belonging to one of thegroups prompted the clash. "Around 3pm, the girls belonging to one of the communities were walkingthrough the village when they were allegedly harassed by a few village youth from the other community.The girls complained to their relatives who then angrily gathered and started ransacking the houses of theyouth," said a police officer. Armed with wooden logs, they barged into the houses of dalits and damagedhousehold articles. They also set on fire the thatched roofs of six houses. Police said that a CCTVcamera installed in the village by the police department in view of the simmering tension was broken bythe non-dalits. Dalits arunthathiyars were outnumbered by the non-dalit vanniyars in Nadupatti andKariyampatti villages that have a long record of caste animosity. This year there were two clashesbetween the villagers on caste lines. One of the clashes was sparked after few dalit youth were foundwearing t-shirts bearing the image of freedom fighter Ondiveeran, a celebrated dalit icon. In October,dalits left the village en masse and took shelter in a nearby hillock in protest against the atrocitiesperpetrated by non-dalits. A posse of more then 200 police personnel have been deployed in the village.Dindigul range DIG N Arivuselvam is also camping in the village. Police said that they would inquire thesexual harassment charges and arrest the accused if the allegation was true. (Times of India 25/11/13)B’ngir Dalit body on war path over double murder (2)Bhubaneswar: Members of Dalit Bichar Manch, led by its president Trilochan Nanda, went on a hungerstrike before the district Collectorate here on Tuesday demanding arrest of Uddhab Putel, the mainaccused in the April 2012 double murder case of Dasarath Kumbhar and Kalkanhu Kumbhar. In thecharge-sheet filed by the police, Uddhab Putel’s occupation has been mentioned as cultivation evenwhen he is working as a science teacher in Gudighat High School and is drawing regular salary, theManch members alleged. “It has been done by Titiligarh SDPO to protect Putel,” they added. “Wedemand action against the teacher and Titilagarh SDPO for wrongly presenting the facts in the chargesheet,” said Trilochan Nanda of the Dalit Bichar Manch Of the 52 accused in the Chanutmaal murder


case, 18 were arrested and forwarded to court. The remaining absconding persons are out on bail.Charge-sheets have been filed against all the accused. Asked about Titilagarh SDPO’s role in the case,Superintendent of Police Ravi Prakash merely remarked, “The matter is sub-judice.” (Pioneer 27/11/13)State govt, NGO teams probe Dalit ostracisation in Mehsana village (2)Ahmedabad: Two separate teams, one from the government and another led by a human rights NGO,conducted separate inquiries into the Dalit ostracisation issue at Dagavadia village in Mehsana district,following a report published by The <strong>Indian</strong> Express on November 16. The <strong>Indian</strong> Express had reportedthat a minor dispute between two youths of the village had resulted in a clash between Dalits and thelocally dominant and influential Chaudhary community in October, leading to the Dalits being allegedlyostracised by the Chaudharys. Local Dalits had alleged that the Chaudharys were not providing themlabour work on their farms and that their entry into the village temple was prohibited. The Dalits alsoalleged that the local barbers were not cutting their hair and local provision stores, barring a few, were notproviding them daily ration. Following this report, the Mehsana collector was asked to look into the matter.A rejoinder from the Director of Scheduled Caste Welfare, Gujarat State, R M Jadav said, "The Mehsanacollector had instructed the joint team consisting of (1) Mamlatdar, Vijapur (2) Taluka DevelopmentOfficer, Vijapur, (3) Police Sub Inspector, Vasai and (4) District Backward Class Welfare Officer,Mehsana, to inquire into the matter." The government also said, "The team visited the village and met theSarpanch and other Leaders of the village. The team had discussed with them and got positive solution ofthis matter. The complainant and other Dalits were given entry into the temple. At present, there is nodispute about ration, hair-cutting and supply of other commodities in the village. Moreover, Dalits havebeen provided police protection according to their demand," the release said. Meanwhile, a retired judgeof the Gujarat High Court and former Lokayukta of Gujarat, S M Soni, who runs the NGO for humanrights, Justice on Trial, also visited Dagavadia to conduct an independent inquiry. "I have visited thevillage and met some of the concerned parties. And we are trying to persuade them to arrive at acompromise," Soni said. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 1/12/13)Dalit family beaten, house burnt in Berasia (2)BHOPAL: A dalit and his family were beaten up and their house was burnt by a group at village BirahShyamkhedi in Berasia on the outskirts on the state capital. The incident had taken place on Saturdayevening. Police said the dispute was over a piece of land on which the victim and accused parties areclaiming stakes. The accused are yet to be arrested. Victim, Kaluram, 38. had erected a shanty on anelevated land area in the village after his small piece of land submerged in a dam project. However,accused Arvind Singh claimed the land to be his. Police said the situation turned violent when Arvindalong with his brothers Rajendra, Santosh Singh and a relative Beer Singh attacked Kaluram and hisfamily, including his wife Narayani and daughter Sarju. After beating the family, the accused torch theirhouse and escaped. The police have registered a case under the relevant sections and said the effortsare on to nab the accused, adding that the nature of injuries sustained by the victim side is not serious.Police said the land in dispute between the two parties is a government land. (Times of India 2/12/13)Dharmapuri Dalit Parents Attempt Suicide Over Inter-caste Marriage (2)DHARMAPURI: Tension prevailed for sometime at the collectorate here on Monday after a dalit coupleattempted to set themselves ablaze alleging police harassment over their son’s marriage with a casteHindu Girl. Sources said that around 12.15 pm, K Aathimooalam and his wife A Muthulakshmi of Mullipattivillage, came to the collectorate and doused themselves with kerosene. While they were about to set fireto themselves, revenue officials overpowered and foiled their bid. On information from officials policecame to the spot and held talks with the couple. RDO P Ramar told the police to look into the grievancesof the couple and provide them protection. Meanwhile, speaking to Express, the couple said that theybelonged to Arunthathiyar community. Their son Ramesh (20) had married a caste Hindu girl, Sangeetha


(24), in May this year. Fearing retribution from the girl’s family, Ramesh, along with Sangeetha, escapedfrom the village. Subsequently, Sangeetha’s mother lodged a complaint against Ramesh. The coupleclaimed that despite their not knowing the whereabouts of their son, police had been harassing them. “Wereally don’t know where Ramesh is. Despite our repeatedly telling the police so, they have beenharassing us. I don’t even know whether he is alive or dead. ,” said Aathimoolam. Meanwhile,Superintendent of Police Asra Garg told Express that police would look into the matter and if any officialwas found guilty of harassing the dalit couple, stern action would be taken against him/her. (New <strong>Indian</strong>Express 3/12/13)Eight of Dalit family attacked (2)DHARMAPURI: Eight members of the family of a Dalit woman who married a Vanniyar were injured in anattack allegedly by the Caste Hindus in Veppamarathur village near Bommidi in Dharmapuri district onWednesday evening. G. Suresh, husband of S. Sudha, told The Hindu over phone that about 20 men ledby the panchayat president Ranganathan attacked the family members with stones and wooden logs andalso abused them on caste lines. Suresh, his wife, father Gopal, mother Palaniammal, younger brother G.Ramesh and three others were injured in the incident. He said the attack took place immediately after theRevenue Divisional Officer, P. Menaka, the Harur Deputy Superintendent of Police, V. Sampath, visitedthe house to inquire about an application of Ms. Sudha for licence to possess a firearm. Mr. Sampath saidthe clash erupted after the panchayat president was allegedly attacked by Ms. Sudha and her familymembers in the presence of two policemen. It was also alleged that the policemen were attacked by Ms.Sudha and others when they tried to resist the assault on Mr. Ranganathan. The panchayat president anda few others who were reportedly injured in the attack were taken to a hospital. Meanwhile, the policepicket was increased in the area and further reinforcements were being rushed, Mr. Sampath added. Ms.Sudha had submitted a petition to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes in Chennai onNovember 28, seeking its help to obtain a gun licence. In her complaint, she alleged harassment andrepeated threats to her life even as the district administration had provided her police cover. Shecomplained of constant harassment which increased after the attack on Dalit colonies in Naikkankottaiafter the Ilavarasan-Divya marriage in 2012. Her family was not allowed to draw water from the commontap and even prevented from entering the temple. Ms. Sudha lodged a complaint with the Bommidi police,who registered a case under the provisions of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, 1989. Since noaction was taken against the accused, she filed a petition in the Madras High Court, which directed theDharmapuri distinct administration to provide adequate protection to the petitioner. (The Hindu 5/12/13)Minister Nanda accused of grabbing Dalit land in K’put (2)Bhubaneswar: Jeypore MLA and School and Mass Education Minister Rabi Narayan Nanda courtedfresh controversy after several Dalits brought an allegation against him that he grabbed over 12 acres oftheir land at Patraput under Jeypore tehsil in Koraput district. Demanding a high-level inquiry andappropriate action against Nanda for encroaching private and Government land along with pasture inPatraput, the members of the Dalit families of Leli Pangi, Daimati Pangi, Hari Pangi and Krushna Pangivillages staged a dharana in front of the residential office of the sub-collector at Jeypore on Tuesday.“The Minister has snatched away our land which was owned by our ancestors. When we yield crops, theMinister’s people forcefully take it from us. We have complained before many officials about the matter,but nobody is paying heed to our concerns,” said complainant Hari Pangi. Later, the family membershanded over a memorandum to the Governor through sub-collector Birendra Karkara, requestingappropriate action against the Minister. In the memorandum, they said the Minister and his wife IndiraNanda encroached over 12 acres of private land at Patraput owned by their ancestors. Even the Ministerconstructed walls on the encroached Government land and land for grazing in the same village. Thefamily members had complained before the tehsildar, sub-collector, District Collector and RevenueDivisional Commissioner (RDC) regarding the issue, but no action was taken against Nanda. It was a


clear violation of Section 42 of the SC, ST Act which stated that Dalit and tribal people’s land cannot bepurchased by non-Dalits or non-tribals. The Supreme Court has also recently given a ruling on the matterfavouring the Dalits and tribals. According to the Act, the State Government should hand over the Dalitland after evicting encroachers which was not followed here, cited the victims. “If the State Governmentdoes not take any appropriate action in the case, we will stage a dharana in front of the State Assemblydemanding justice,” warned Pangi on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Nanda rubbished the allegation, claiming itas baseless and false. (Pioneer 12/12/13)In Gujarat, thousands of Dalits choose Buddhism for a 'new identity' (2)Rajkot: Thousands of Dalits from the state gathered at Patapar village near Junagadh and converted toBuddhism with an aim to "walk on the path of Truth" on Sunday. Eyewitnesses said that around 5,000Dalits from Saurashtra and Kutch and other parts of the state attended "Chalo Buddh Ki Aur" event andconverted to Buddhism in the presence of Bikhhu Sanghasena, the founder of the MahabodhiInternational Medication Centre (MIMC), and leaders of Mahabodhi Society from Sri Lanka. Jaydev Bapa,a revered figure here, was among the Dalits who converted to Buddhism. "We seek to walk on the path ofTruth. Buddhism preaches equality, brotherhood and non-violence. This change would help develop thecommunity," Deven Vanvi, convenor of Buddha Diksha Mahotsav Samiti (BDMS), an umbrellaorganisation of Dalit associations, said. "We all know what is happening in the society. This will changeour identity as individuals. If someone asks us who we are, from now on we shall say we are Buddhists,forsaking the term 'Harijan' coined by Mahatma Gandhi for us and uncomfortable feelings associated withit," Vanvi further said. Tushar Shripal, a member of BDMS, said, "This is a matter of self-respect. Being aDalit is like living in a constant state of humiliation. The change will give people self-respect and selfpride."The organisers claimed that the event was largest of its kind in the state. Dalits from Kodinar,Manavadar, Keshod and Junagadh talukas attended the event with entire community. "We tookinspiration from Dr B R Ambedkar and had been planning the event since this February under theguidance of Jaydev Bapa," Vanvi added. Dr Ambedkar, the architect of our Constitution, had converted toBuddhism along with scores of his community members in protest against caste prejudice. (<strong>Indian</strong>Express 14/12/13)Gujarat orders probe into conversion of Dalits (2)The Gujarat government has ordered an inquiry into the mass conversion of Dalits to Buddhism atDungarpur village in Junagadh district on Sunday. Junagadh district collector Alok Pandey told The <strong>Indian</strong>Express: "I have ordered a probe into the event and asked the Superintendent of Police and subdivisionalmagistrate to inquire into the issue and submit a report at the earliest." Pandey said that thoughhe had prior knowledge about the event, it was mandatory for the organisers to take prior permission onthe conversions, under the new anti-conversion law. "The organisers had informed the administrationabout holding the event. But they went ahead with the programme without obtaining proper permission,"Pandey told this newspaper. He said that the administration had procured videos of the five-hour eventand would conduct a thorough probe to see if there was violation of the law. Under privisions of Section 5of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion Rules, 2008, a proper and prior permission of the district magistratewas mandatory before any religious conversion. Any violation amounted to an offence and invited action.Devendra Govindbhai Vanvi of the Baudh Diksha Mahotsava Samiti, an umbrella organisation ofBuddhists and Dalits in the state that organised the event, however, claimed that he had secured priorpermission. "The village panchayat provided its ground for the event. Mamlatdar and other officials gaveus permission for using a microphone, provided us ambulance and other facilities," claimed Vanvi. "Whyshould the administration allow the event and provide facilities for it if the event was illegal," he stated.Vanvi alleged that a probe into the event seemed to have been ordered under political pressure. Why didDalits convert to Buddhism? Vanvi said that Dalits were embracing Buddhism to seek "emancipation"from the Hindu caste system that had virtually made them "social slaves" for centuries. Former minister


Dinesh Parmar, who had attended the event, said that large-scale conversions of Dalits to Buddhismwere planned to be held at all the district headquarters in the state in days to come. (<strong>Indian</strong> Express16/12/13)41 Dalit students boycott classes (2)DHARMAPURI: Forty-one Dalit students of the Panchayat Union Middle School at Veppamarathur villagenear Bommidi in Dharmapuri district boycotted the classes on Monday alleging that they were beingdiscriminated against, and maintained that the water in the overhead tank in the school was poisoned tocause harm to them. Ten of these students and their parents submitted a petition to District Collector K.Vivekanandan, demanding an end to the discrimination. They also sought a compound wall and a newbuilding for the school. It was alleged in the petition that trouble began ever since caste-Hindusannounced a boycott of the family of S. Sudha, a Dalit who got married to G. Suersh, a Vanniyar (caste-Hindu). P. Sekaran, the leader of the Dalits at Veppamarathur Colony, the students and their parentsrecounted how three students P. Sakthi (13), M. Sakthivel (9), and S. Karthika (7) were taken ill afterconsuming water from the school tank. The Collector assured the students and the others of appropriateaction in two days. When contacted S. Nagarajan, District Elementary Education Officer told The Hinduthat the main school building had two classrooms and the dilapidated building on the opposite side hadtwo classrooms. The district administration was taking efforts to survey the land behind the school forconstruction of new building with toilet, drinking water, and other basic amenities, he said. The Collectoralso ordered an inquiry by the Revenue Divisional Officer on a petition submitted by Dalits of KondampattiColony at Naickenkottai Village that they were being discriminated against ever since Ilavarasan, a Dalityouth of Natham Colony married Divya, a caste-Hindu girl in 2012. More than 250 houses of Dalits wereattacked on November 7, 2012. Ilavarasan was later found dead along a railway track after Divya wantedto live with her mother. The Dalits alleged on Monday that hate speeches were being made against themand hair dressers, grocery shops and flour mills were turning them away. (The Hindu 17/12/13)Return used mining areas to villagers: Dalits, tribals (2)Bhubaneswar: During an interface with Revenue Minister Surjya Narayan Patro at a meeting organisedby the Development Initiatives here, displaced dalit and adivasi people of mining areas on Tuesdaysuggested him to take steps to return the lands after finishing of mining in the acquired land. Patro whilereleasing a study report on ‘Mining and Land Rights of Dalits and Marginalised communities in Odisha’,hailed the suggestion and said that he would try to induct it in future during signing of memorandum ofunderstanding (MoU) with any corporate houses. “Usually the acquired land lying unused after miningand it is a good idea to reuse the land by the villagers in farming after filling soil and sand within it,” theMinister added. The dalit and adivasi leaders said the company should fill the hollows with soil and sandafter mining and return it to the displaced people. Which would be a good corporate social responsibility(CSR) for the companies, they added. Development Initiatives secretary Manas Jena, head of theresearch team that conducted the study covering ten mining tehsils of eight districts, said that one lakhhectares of land have been given in lease to 600 companies within last 50 years. Out of the total leaseland, 50 per cent have been allotted to the Central and the State Government, while the rest of the landshave been given to private companies. Most of the mining areas are situated in the tribal and dalitdominated areas in the State as a result thousands of SC and ST people are migrating every year due toindustrialisation. “The State Government didn’t take the problems of displaced people seriously for whichreason the landless people are living in miserable condition,” Jena said. He further said the StateGovernment failed to implement Vasundhara Scheme and the Orissa Government Land Settlement Act,1962 in true spirit. Different industries have been continuing their business here even encroaching landsof common people, he said, adding, “The companies should restrict their operations within the lease areaand in cases where the land is indirectly affected due to mining; it should be compensated and coveredunder land reclamation programme.” (Pioneer 18/12/13)


Dalit body slams Govt for silence on atrocity plaints (2)Bhubaneswar: Coming down heavily on the State Government for its lackadaisical attitude towardsatrocities on Dalits, hundreds of people under the banner of the National Confederation of DalitOrganisation (NACDOR) on Wednesday staged a demonstration in front of State Assembly demandingimmediate Government intervention in the issues. “More than 200 Dalit employees working atBhubaneswar Infosys are being subjected to both mental and physical tortures since last 15 years byInfosys Regional Manager Vaibhab Patel and others. Though an FIR was lodged at the Infosys policestation in this regard, the police instead acting against Patel are forcing the complainants to withdraw thecomplaint,” rued NACDOR State president Ashok Kumar Mallick. Giving an instance of police inaction,Mallick said though a complaint was registered against some villagers of Patana Sahi under the Lingarajpolice station for attacking a Dalit boy, Jitu Kandi, and his sister on December 5, the police are yet toarrest them. “It is seen that political persons like Ministers, MPs and MLAs belonging to the present partyin power in the State, besides influential persons and even police personnel are involving themselves inheinous atrocities against Dalit people,” said Mallick. Seeking Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’sintervention, the organisation urged him to directly look into the matter, thereby ensuring a normal life withfull dignity to Dalit people in the State as per the provisions in the Constitution. (Pioneer 19/12/13)Prejudice, injustice against Dalits still exists: President (2)Kochi: Prejudice and injustice against scheduled castes still exists in India, President Pranab Mukherjeesaid here on Friday. Kicking off the celebrations on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of renownedsocial reformer Ayyankali here this evening, the President pointed out that the change in status and livingconditions of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes since the adoption of the Constitution wasenormous, yet "far from sufficient"."Disabilities have been removed in law. But, unfortunately prejudice,inequality and injustice still persists vis-a-vis Scheduled Castes in our country. We must invest ourenergies to remove all vestiges of disabilities from the lives of SCs, STs and BCs," he said. "We mustcreate a society in which minorities can live in peace and not have to fear or suffer deprivation." Notingthat inclusion and equal opportunity for all communities was the foundation of free, progressive andmodern India, Mukherjee said members of all castes, religions and regions were equal partners in thenation-building. Paying tribute to Ayyankali, the President said his life was an "incessant struggle" and hecould be called the first labour leader of India. Like Jyotiba Phule and B R Ambedkar, Ayyankali dedicatedhis life to the struggle against casteism and to achieve equality among all people. It was because ofreformers like Ayyankali and Sree Narayan Guru that people of Kerala were able to develop theirprogressive outlook, which is admired across the country today, he noted. Kerala Chief Minister OomenChandy, Union ministers Vayalar Ravi, K V Thomas, MLA Ramesh Chennithala and others were presenton this occasion. (Zee News 20/12/13)Naxalites eye educated but unemployed Dalits (2)NAGPUR: State Anti-Naxal Operations (ANO) cell has issued a confidential message to all the policeunits, including Mumbai and rest of western Maharashtra, across the state alerting them regarding amassive countrywide plan of the rebels to revive their movement with the help of Dalit, especiallytargeting the educated but unemployed youths in their community. ANO, referring to Naxal's 'Strategy andTactics of <strong>Indian</strong> Revolution', underlined the rebels' ultimate goal of destroying country's existing political,economic and cultural fabric to replace with system embodying their ideology. The ANO alert, a copy ofwhich is in possession of TOI, states that Naxalites are aiming at rebuilding their strengths and formbases across cities like their jungle strongholds following the setbacks they suffered in the recent timesfrom the aggressive operations of the central and state forces. The Naxalites have expressed concernover their receding manpower owing to recruitment crunch and government strategies. The Naxalites, intheir ninth unity congress, have urged their cadres to use the Dalit base to boost the movement across


country in order to achieve their party's ultimate goal - to overthrow central government. The ANO alertquotes several decisions undertaken at the rebels' secret conference held at Abujmarh in 2007. TheNaxal strategists have urged their cadres to exploit the incidents of atrocities on Dalits to fuel sentimentsusing it as a trigger to form frontal organizations at various levels of the society, ANO has alerted policeunits. The director of the Maharashtra Police Academy at Nashik and principals of Regional PoliceTraining Schools (RPTS) of Marol in Mumbai, Khandala, Nanviz, Solapur, Jalna, Akola and Nagpur toohave been alerted by ANO. ANO stressed on the fact that Naxalites have started seeking variousavenues to rope in displeased segment of the Dalits especially their educated-but-unemployed youthsfrom cities and suburbs. The Naxal strategists have also asked their cadres to induct supporters fromacross the society to agitate on the issues of Dalit exploitations. The alert message, which includesnames of several Naxalites over ground cadres including ones from Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and otherplaces, highlighted how the rebels are planning to exploit the sacrifices of likes of Bhagat Singh,philosophies of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and such personalities to attract the sentiments of the youths.ANO has cited several instances of the past where frontal organizations have tried to provoke the Dalitsby highlighting the atrocities on Dalits in the incidents like that of Khairlanji killings in Bhandara district,firing at Mumbai's Ramabai Ambedkar slum and such places by distributing inflammatory literature,delivering speeches and making such propaganda through documentary films and cultural programmes.ANO has urged the police units across the state to send its feedback on the programmes organized bysuch frontal organizations involving labour union, youth organizations, rights bodies comprising literarypersons, journalists, advocates and such intellectual groups pro-actively spreading Naxal ideology.(Times of India 22/12/13)Dalit attempts suicide after rape accused let off by UP panchayat (2)Lucknow: Depressed over panchayat’s diktat awarding just five slaps to an accused who tried to rape her,a 19-year-old Dalit girl allegedly tried to commit suicide in Pahasu area of Bulundshahr on Monday.According to reports, a powerful resident of Sohi hamlet of Pahasu in Bulundshahr had called a village girlto work in his fields on Sunday. When the victim reached for work, the accused calledher and tried to pullher in a secluded place to rape her. Luckily, the victim somehow released her from clutches of theaccused and rushed towards her house and informed the incident to the family members. Reports furthersaid that the family took the matter to the village panchayat on Monday but instead of taking seriouscognisance, the sarpanchs tried to bail out the accused after they awarded just five slaps to theaccused. Disturbed over the incident the girl tried to to commit suicide by jumping into a canal here onMonday. However, she was rescued by passersby. Local police claimed that they took cognisance of thematter and were trying to arrest the accused. Meanwhile in another incident reported from Gorakhpur, awoman was allegedly attacked by a man for opposing lewd comments. Reports said that on Mondayevening, the accused passed lewd comments on a woman when she was going to a bank with hermother-in-law in Sumersagar area of Gorakhpur. When she opposed, he pushed down the woman toground and tore her clothes. When the victim’s mother-in-law raised an alarm, the accused left thewoman and absconded. Following the incident, the victim’s brother-in-law reached the accused’s housebut he rang up the police and lodged a fake complaint against her kin. When the victim came to knowabout her brother-in-law’s arrest, she reached the SP city’s office and narrated the entire episode onlythen his brother-in-law was released. It may be mentioned that on Sunday also, in another such incidentin Gorakhpur a girl was beaten-up by miscreants in Khorabar police station area for resisting their teasingbid. (Pioneer 25/12/13)NHRC asks U.P. government to inquire into Kanwal Bharti’s arrest (2)Lucknow: Mr. Bharti was arrested in August, and soon granted bail, over a Facebook post criticising UttarPradesh government for suspending IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal. The National Human RightsCommission has directed the Uttar Pradesh police to act on a complaint that sought an inquiry into the


arrest of Dalit scholar Kanwal Bharti. Mr. Bharti was arrested in August for a Facebook post critical of theState government and senior Samajwadi Party leaders over the suspension of IAS officer Durga ShaktiNagpal. He was granted bail soon after the arrest. Writing to the Director-General of Police, the NHRChas said the complaint should be “transmitted to the authority concerned for such action as deemedappropriate.” Nutan Thakur, a social activist of Lucknow, had moved the NHRC for an immediate inquiryand strict action in the case. She said Mr. Bharti’s “arbitrary and hasty arrest” was an “open abuse ofadministrative power.” His comments were not in any way meant to spread communal animosity but wereonly an “intellectual assertion” of a sequence of events and administrative acts. Mr. Bharti had beencharged under Sections 153 and 295(A) of the IPC, which deal with “provocation with intent to cause riot”and “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting itsreligion or religious beliefs.” Despite media uproar, the cases filed against him have not been scrapped.He said he was not hopeful of justice from any inquiry by the State government. “If the police can lodge acomplaint at [Cabinet Minister] Azam Khan’s orders, how can they hold an unbiased inquiry? The entiremachinery belongs to the government.” He has taken the battle to the Allahabad High Court. “I amhopeful of justice from the judiciary, not the State,” he said. Dr. Thakur also prayed that Mr. Bharti becompensated for the hasty manner in which the First Information Report was filed and he was arrested.Since this was a “sensitive human rights matter,” she would “pursue it with the DGP for the sake ofjustice,” she said. (The Hindu 27/12/13)Gram pradhan chops off dalit's finger (2)Lucknow: In what exposes the aristocratic mind-set of society and anarchism mushrooming in the state,husband and son of village Rakhiya Buzurg gram pradhan, Ramdevi Tiwari, chopped the fingers of a dalitwoman on filing a case against the gram pradhan in Shahjahanpur district. The incident came to light inSindhauli area, where Gaya Prasad, his son Anil and some of his aides stopped Meera (45) when shewas returning home on Wednesday evening. The group objectionable words for the dalit woman andchopped her fingers when she retaliated their action and warned of a police action. The miscreants leftthe scene unchallenged. The victim reached her home while blood trickling down from her hand andnarrated the incident to her family. She was later admitted to a hospital for treatment. The motive behindthe attack had its roots when Meera filed a case in the court against the gram Pradhan Ramdevi forcontesting elections claiming self to be a dalit. She even had submitted forged documents related to hercaste in the elections. The wounded is recuperating at hospital, while the accused were still at large.(Pioneer 27/12/13)Dalit villagers allege a local of blocking approach road to Tikkari (2)Mandi: Members of Dalit community under the banner of Himachal Kisan Sabha (HKS) has submitted amemorandum to Mandi deputy commissioner Devesh Kumar, alleging one Govardhan Das of blockingthe approach road to Tikkari village by erecting a wall of his house in the middle of the road. Tikkarivillage falls under Joginder Nagar sub-division, where nearly 35 families of Dalits are residing. HKS statejoint secretary Kushal Bhardwaj, who led the delegation, said: "The road leads to Tikkari village, and hasbeen used by the villagers since the Independence. Above all, many people had donated a part of theirland to the Himachal government for widening of the road in 1995-96." Bhardwaj further said in May 2012,the Public Works Department (PWD) had decided to metal the road and unloaded requisite material atvarious spots along the road, but due to incessant rain from June to August, the construction work wasput on hold. In September 2012, when the PWD decided to restart the metal work, he said, both the PWDofficials and Tikkari residents were caught in surprise when they saw a wall raised in the middle of theroad to construct a building. Bhardwaj said despite assurances from PWD officials that they would get thewall removed, no action was taken so far. "The villagers are deprived of the road connectivity sincethen,"he added. Meanwhile, acting on the complaint of the villagers, officials of the revenue departmentcarried out demarcation of the land and found the person guilty of encroachment on the government land,


said Bhardwaj, adding even then the PWD officials and police failed to remove the encroachment.Bhardwaj said: "The person who has encroached upon the government land is a government employeeand his act against the Dalit community people is a crime." In the memorandum, the villagers haddemanded quick action against the erring person, said Bhardwaj, adding they also warned theadministration if their demand was not fulfilled, the residents of Tikkari village would not hesitate to lodgea complaint against the department concerned. (Hindustan Times 28/12/13)HC Gives Anticipatory Bail to 27 Dalits in Case of Clash (2)CHENNAI: Madras High Court granted anticipatory bail to 27 Dalits, including two advocates, in a matterpertaining to a clash over their entry into a temple at Thiruvallur district. The order was passed by JusticeKBK Vasuki at a special sitting at her residence here. The judge, who heard three separate bailapplications filed by 27 Dalits, directed the two lawyers to appear before the Metropolitan Magistrate,Egmore, for 15 days and other 25 accused, named in different FIRs, to stay at Villupuram and sign beforethe Judicial Magistrate there daily at 11 AM until further orders. Counsel for one of the lawyers said hisclient enrolled as an advocate on December 21 and returned to his native village Nambakkam atThiruvallur district that day and was welcomed by friends and relatives. He was taken in a procession to atemple for offering prayers, but was prevented entry, abused and attacked by the villagers, who tookexception to their entry to the temple. In spite of complaints to local police and Superintendent of Police,no action was taken against those responsible, though some who accompanied the lawyer werehospitalised, the counsel submitted. He further submitted that instead of taking action against them,police had registered FIRs on the complaints of the rival group. As his client and also the othersapprehended arrest following registration of FIRs, counsel for Dalits made a special mention that theanticipatory bail petitions be heard immediately. Hence though today was a holiday, the bail petitionswere heard by Justice Vasuki at her residence. (New <strong>Indian</strong> Express 29/12/13)NHRC seeks report from Gujarat over boycott of Dalits (2)Ahmedabad: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought an action taken report (ATR)from the Gujarat government on the alleged social boycott of Dalits in Dagavadia village of Mehsanadistrict. In its communication to the District Collector and District Superintendent of Police, theCommission has asked them to submit an ATR within four weeks of getting the communication. OnNovember 16, The <strong>Indian</strong> Express had first reported about the village where Dalits were allegedlyostracised by the locally influential and dominant Chaudhary community members, following a minordispute between two youths of the two communities. The Commission sought the ATR from thegovernment authorities following a complaint lodged by a member of an Ahmedabad-based voluntaryorganisation, Kantilal Parmar. Parmar had based his complaint on the report of The <strong>Indian</strong> Express andsought "immediate" action of the Commission for "human rights violation of the Scheduled Caste peoplein Dagavadia village".An assistant registrar of the Commission has asked the District Collector andDistrict Superintendent of Police that "...an Action Taken Report be sent to the Commission within fourweeks from the date of receipt of this letter".Dalits of Dagavadia village, which has a population of 3,000and is dominated by the Chaudhary community, alleged that following a minor dispute between twoyouths of the communities, they have been ostracised by the Chaudharys. They alleged that they werenot getting labour work in the fields mainly owned by Chaudharys. They also alleged that due to thepressure of the Chaudharys, they were facing difficulties in getting their daily ration from provision storesin the village. Following the report, the Gujarat government had sent a team of officers to the village. In acommunication to The <strong>Indian</strong> Express, Director of Scheduled Caste Welfare, Gujarat - R M Jadav - hadsaid, "The team visited the village and met the sarpanch and other leaders of the village. The team haddiscussed with them and got positive solution of this matter. The complainant and other Dalits were givenentry into the temple respectfully. At present, there is no dispute about ration, hair-cutting and supply of


other commodities in the village. Moreover, the Dalits have been provided police protection according totheir demand." (<strong>Indian</strong> Express 31/12/13)

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